Breakdown of Zelden is de sleepdienst zo snel aangekomen!
zijn
to be
snel
fast
aankomen
to arrive
zo
so (to such a degree)
Questions & Answers about Zelden is de sleepdienst zo snel aangekomen!
Why is the verb is placed before the subject de sleepdienst?
Because the sentence starts with the adverb zelden (seldom). In Dutch, the conjugated verb must stay in the second position of a main clause. When another word or phrase takes the first spot, the subject and verb must swap places to keep the verb second. This is known as inversion.
Why does this sentence use is instead of heeft for the present perfect tense?
The past participle aangekomen comes from the separable verb aankomen (to arrive). Verbs that express a clear change of state or a motion toward a destination take zijn rather than hebben as their auxiliary verb in the perfect tenses.
How does the word sleepdienst break down?
It is a compound noun formed from the stem of the verb slepen (to tow, to drag) and the noun dienst (service). Understanding this makes it much easier to remember!
This lesson focuses on the formal conjunction daar (since). If I start this sentence with a daar clause, what happens to the word zelden?
The entire daar clause will take up the first position of the sentence. To keep the main verb is in the second position, zelden must step back. For example: Daar de wegen leeg waren, is de sleepdienst zelden zo snel aangekomen! (Since the roads were empty, seldom has the towing service arrived so quickly!).