Breakdown of Wij voelden noch angst noch wantrouwen voor het incident.
wij
we
het
it
voor
to (time), before
de angst
the fear
voelen
to feel (something) / to seem/feel (a certain way)
het incident
the incident
noch
neither / nor
het wantrouwen
the distrust
Questions & Answers about Wij voelden noch angst noch wantrouwen voor het incident.
How does the prefix wan- create the meaning of wantrouwen?
The prefix wan- indicates that something is bad, wrong, or lacking, similar to the English prefixes mal-, mis-, or dys-. Here, it attaches to the root trouw (which means trust, loyalty, or fidelity). Therefore, wantrouwen literally means bad trust or a lack of trust, which translates to distrust or suspicion.
Is wantrouwen being used as a noun or a verb in this sentence?
It is a noun here, meaning distrust. You can tell because it functions as a direct object and is paired in parallel with another noun, angst (fear), using the noch ... noch structure. However, it is a handy B2 fact to remember that wantrouwen can also be used identically as a verb meaning to distrust.
How does the noch ... noch structure work grammatically here?
noch ... noch is the direct Dutch equivalent of neither ... nor. It is used to link two negative alternatives. Notice that because noch already makes the statement negative, you do not need to add a standard negative word like niet or geen to the sentence.
Could voor in voor het incident mean for the incident?
While voor very often translates to for, the context here indicates time, so it means before. If you wanted to say you felt fear about or regarding the incident itself, you would typically use a preposition like over (e.g., angst over het incident). Since it is voor, the feeling simply occurred prior to the event.
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