Breakdown of Hoewel de mythe beroemd is, is hij ongetwijfeld nep.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
beroemd
famous
hoewel
although
nep
fake
de mythe
the myth
ongetwijfeld
undoubtedly
Questions & Answers about Hoewel de mythe beroemd is, is hij ongetwijfeld nep.
Why is ongetwijfeld placed exactly where it is in the second clause?
Ongetwijfeld (undoubtedly) is a sentence-level adverb of evaluation, meaning it expresses the speaker's judgment about the whole statement. In the middle field of a Dutch sentence, these adverbs typically go right after the finite verb (is) and the subject (hij), but before a predicative adjective like nep.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with the verb (is hij) instead of the subject (hij is)?
This is due to the verb-second (V2) rule. The entire subordinate clause (Hoewel de mythe beroemd is) acts as the first block of information in the main sentence. Therefore, the main verb (is) must immediately follow it in the second position, which forces the subject (hij) to swap places with the verb.
Why do we use hij (he) to refer to a myth?
Mythe is a de-word. In Dutch, you use hij to refer back to most singular de-words, even when they are abstract concepts or inanimate objects. You generally only use zij/ze if the word is explicitly feminine (like a female person or an inherently feminine noun).
Is nep an adjective or a noun here?
It is used as a predicative adjective here, meaning "fake". As a bonus tip: nep is a bit of a grammatical exception in Dutch. Unlike most adjectives, it almost never gets an -e ending when placed in front of a noun (for example, you would say een nep schilderij, not een neppe schilderij).
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