Breakdown of Duizenden trekvogels met grote vleugels vliegen zuidwaarts.
groot
big
met
with
vliegen
to fly
de trekvogel
the migratory bird
zuidwaarts
southwards
de vleugel
the wing
duizenden
thousands
Questions & Answers about Duizenden trekvogels met grote vleugels vliegen zuidwaarts.
Why is it Duizenden and not Duizendtallen?
While we use the suffix -tallen for numbers like ten (tientallen) or fifty (vijftigtallen), the words for hundred and thousand just take the standard plural -en ending to form indefinite aggregates. So, honderden means "hundreds" and duizenden means "thousands".
What is the breakdown of the compound noun trekvogels?
It combines the stem of the verb trekken (which means to migrate, travel, or pull) and the plural noun vogels (birds). This is the standard Dutch way to say "migratory birds".
Why does grote only have one 'o' when the dictionary form is groot?
Because vleugels is a plural noun, the adjective gets an -e ending. Adding this -e makes the syllable open (gro-te). In Dutch spelling, a single vowel at the end of a syllable is automatically pronounced long. We drop the extra 'o' because it is no longer needed to keep the long 'o' sound.
Is the suffix -waarts in zuidwaarts used exactly like '-wards' in English?
Yes, they are exact cognates and work the same way to indicate direction. You will see -waarts attached to compass directions like zuidwaarts (southwards) as well as spatial words like voorwaarts (forwards) or huiswaarts (homewards).
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