Word
De elite draagt niets anders dan chique kleren.
Meaning
The elite wears nothing but chic clothes.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De elite draagt niets anders dan chique kleren.
dragen
to wear
niets
nothing
dan
than
de kleren
the clothes
Questions & Answers about De elite draagt niets anders dan chique kleren.
Why do we use niets anders dan here instead of niemand anders dan?
Niets means "nothing" and is used for objects, things, or concepts—in this case, chique kleren (chic clothes). If you were talking about an exception involving a person or a group of people, you would use niemand anders dan (nobody but).
The base word for "chic" is chic. Why is it spelled chique here?
Because chic is a French loanword ending in a "c" that sounds like a "k". If Dutch just added the standard adjective "-e" ending to make chice, the rules of Dutch pronunciation would force the "c" to sound like an "s". To preserve the original "k" sound, the spelling changes to chique.
Since De elite refers to a group of people, why does it take the singular verb draagt?
In Dutch, elite is a singular collective noun. Even though it implies a plural group of people in the real world, its grammatical form is singular, so it strictly requires the singular verb draagt.
Could I replace niets anders dan with alleen maar in this sentence?
Yes, you could easily say De elite draagt alleen maar chique kleren and the core meaning remains the same. However, using niets anders dan is much more emphatic. It focuses heavily on the absolute exclusion of anything else—they wouldn't be caught dead in normal clothes.