Breakdown of De groene smaragd is ons te opvallend.
zijn
to be
te
too
groen
green
ons
us (object)
opvallend
striking / conspicuous
de smaragd
the emerald
Questions & Answers about De groene smaragd is ons te opvallend.
Why does the sentence use just ons instead of voor ons to mean "for us"?
This is a dative complement. When using evaluative adjectives in Dutch, especially those preceded by te (too), you can drop the preposition and use the indirect object pronoun by itself. While you could say is te opvallend voor ons, saying is ons te opvallend is a very natural, slightly more elegant way to express how something feels to someone.
Why does ons come before the adjective phrase te opvallend?
In Dutch word order, indirect object pronouns like ons generally want to sit as close to the finite verb (is) as possible. Because of this rule, the pronoun steps in front of the evaluative adjective phrase (te opvallend), pushing it to the end of the clause.
Opvallend looks like a verb form. Where does it come from?
It is the present participle of the separable verb opvallen (to stand out / to draw attention). By adding a -d to the infinitive, it becomes a participle (opvallend) which is very commonly used as an adjective meaning "striking", "conspicuous", or "flashy".
As a quick refresher, why does groene have an -e ending while opvallend doesn't?
Groene sits directly in front of the noun it modifies (smaragd), so it takes the standard -e ending for a de-word. Opvallend is used predicatively here, meaning it comes after the verb (is) rather than directly before a noun. In Dutch, predicative adjectives never get an -e ending.
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