Breakdown of Zieken en zwakken worden in de massa vaak genegeerd.
en
and
in
in
vaak
often
worden
to become
ziek
sick
negeren
to ignore
zwak
weak
de massa
the masses
Questions & Answers about Zieken en zwakken worden in de massa vaak genegeerd.
Why do zieken and zwakken end in -en here?
In Dutch, you can turn an adjective into a noun. Because ziek (sick) and zwak (weak) refer specifically to people in the plural in this sentence, they get the -en ending.
If this sentence were about sick animals, would we still use zieken?
No. The independent plural suffix -n (which makes these adjectives end in -en) is strictly for human referents. For animals or objects, you would drop the -n and just use the -e ending, though it is usually more natural to explicitly say zieke dieren.
Why does this sentence use worden instead of zijn for the passive voice?
Why is massa singular in Dutch but translated as plural in English?
De massa is a collective noun in Dutch. It literally means the mass or the crowd, but when talking about the general population in society, English prefers the plural translation the masses.
Why does zwak get an extra k in zwakken?
Because zwak has a short vowel sound. If you just added -en, the syllable break would change the pronunciation to a long 'a' sound. Doubling the k keeps the vowel short.
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