Breakdown of Heeft de buurvrouw d'r hond zich verveeld tijdens het verblijf?
de hond
the dog
hebben
to have
het
it
de buurvrouw
the neighbor (female)
zich vervelen
to be bored
tijdens
during
d'r
her (unstressed)
het verblijf
the stay
Questions & Answers about Heeft de buurvrouw d'r hond zich verveeld tijdens het verblijf?
Why is d'r used here between de buurvrouw and hond?
This is a colloquial way to show possession in spoken Dutch. Instead of saying de hond van de buurvrouw (the dog of the neighbor), you state the owner (de buurvrouw) followed by the unstressed possessive pronoun (d'r, short for haar) and the possessed object (hond). Because buurvrouw is female, we use d'r.
Why do we need the word zich in this sentence?
In Dutch, to be bored is translated using the reflexive verb zich vervelen (literally: to bore oneself). Since the subject is de buurvrouw d'r hond (a third-person singular subject), the matching reflexive pronoun is zich.
I sometimes confuse when to use hebben or zijn in the perfect tense. Why does this sentence use heeft?
All reflexive verbs in Dutch, including zich vervelen, strictly use hebben as their auxiliary verb for perfect tenses. Even if the English translation uses the verb to be (has been bored), the Dutch reflexive form guarantees you will always use hebben.
Why is zich placed right after hond and not later in the sentence?
In a yes/no question, the subject and the finite verb switch places. The entire subject here is the noun phrase de buurvrouw d'r hond. The reflexive pronoun zich usually must immediately follow the subject, which pushes the past participle verveeld later in the clause.
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