Breakdown of Mijn vriend volgt zijn eigen koolhydraatarme dieet.
de vriend
the friend
mijn
my
zijn
his
volgen
to follow
het dieet
the diet
eigen
own
koolhydraatarm
low-carb
Questions & Answers about Mijn vriend volgt zijn eigen koolhydraatarme dieet.
How is the word koolhydraatarme formed, and what exactly does the suffix -arm mean here?
It is a combination of the noun koolhydraat (carbohydrate) and the suffix -arm. As a suffix, -arm means "poor in" or "low in" whatever the noun is. It is highly productive, meaning you can attach it to many nouns to create new adjectives, like vetarm (low-fat) or zoutarm (low-sodium).
Why is the noun part koolhydraat singular in the compound adjective, while we often say "carbohydrates" (plural) in English?
In Dutch, when you form a compound adjective using a noun and a suffix like -arm, -rijk, or -vrij, the noun part is almost always singular. So it is literally "carbohydrate-poor", just like we say suikervrij (sugar-free) instead of using a plural form.
Dieet is a het word. Since it is a neuter noun, shouldn't the adjective be koolhydraatarm without the -e?
You only drop the -e for het words when they are indefinite (like after een or when there is no article). Here, the noun is preceded by the possessive pronoun zijn (his). Possessive pronouns make the noun phrase definite, so the adjective gets the standard -e ending: zijn eigen koolhydraatarme dieet.
Why do we use eigen here instead of just saying zijn koolhydraatarme dieet?
Adding eigen translates to "his own". It emphasizes that he isn't just following any standard low-carb diet, but rather one he has personalized or specifically created for himself.
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