Een totaal lege trein veroorzaakte een enorme paniek.
A totally empty train caused an enormous panic.
Breakdown of Een totaal lege trein veroorzaakte een enorme paniek.
een
a/an
de trein
the train
leeg
empty
veroorzaken
to cause
enorm
enormous
de paniek
the panic
totaal
total / totally
Questions & Answers about Een totaal lege trein veroorzaakte een enorme paniek.
Why is it totaal and not totale?
In this sentence, totaal ("totally") acts as an adverb of degree modifying the adjective lege ("empty"). Adverbs do not take the -e ending. If it had the ending (totale), it would act as an adjective modifying the noun trein, meaning "a total empty train" rather than "a totally empty train."
Why does enorme get the -e ending after een?
Unlike the adverb totaal, enorme is an adjective directly modifying the noun paniek. Because paniek is a de-word, adjectives placed in front of it get the standard -e ending, even after the indefinite article een.
How can I tell that paniek is a de-word just by looking at this sentence?
You can deduce its gender from the adjective ending! With het-words, an adjective after een does not get an -e (for example, een groot huis). Because we see een enorme paniek with the -e added to enorm, paniek must be a de-word.
Why does the spelling of leeg change to lege (dropping an e) when it modifies the train?
This is a Dutch spelling rule for keeping vowels "long." The word leeg has a long vowel sound written with a double vowel in a closed syllable. When you add the -e, the syllable breaks into le-ge. Because the first syllable is now "open" (ending in a vowel), a single e is enough to maintain the long sound.
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