Breakdown of Is dat woord makkelijk op te zoeken?
zijn
to be
het woord
the word
dat
that (het-words)
makkelijk
easy
te
to (infinitive marker)
opzoeken
to look up
Questions & Answers about Is dat woord makkelijk op te zoeken?
Why is the verb written as op te zoeken instead of te opzoeken?
Opzoeken is a separable verb consisting of the prefix op and the main verb zoeken. In constructions that require te before the infinitive, the te must be placed directly between the separable prefix and the main verb. This splits the verb into three separate words: op te zoeken.
Could we change the word order to Is dat woord op te zoeken makkelijk?
No, the Dutch word order requires the evaluative adjective (makkelijk) to be placed right before the verb block (op te zoeken) at the end of the clause. The structural pattern for this type of phrase is always Subject + Verb + Adjective + te + Infinitive.
Since the word is the thing being looked up, would a Dutch speaker ever use a passive phrase here, like makkelijk om opgezocht te worden?
No, Dutch behaves exactly like English in these specific evaluative constructions. Even though the subject logically receives the action, you always use the active infinitive (op te zoeken), exactly like the English 'easy to look up', rather than a passive equivalent.
Why does this sentence use dat woord instead of die woord?
As a quick refresher on noun genders: woord is a neuter noun (het woord). For singular het words, you must use the demonstrative pronouns dit (this) or dat (that). If you were talking about a de word, like zin (sentence), you would use die: Is die zin makkelijk op te zoeken?
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