Breakdown of De commissie ziet de tekortkomingen en zal zich erin verdiepen.
en
and
zien
to see
zullen
shall / will
erin
in it, into it
de commissie
the committee
de tekortkoming
the shortcoming / the flaw
zich verdiepen
to delve into / to immerse oneself
Questions & Answers about De commissie ziet de tekortkomingen en zal zich erin verdiepen.
Why does the sentence use erin to say "into them" instead of in hen or in ze?
The word erin refers back to de tekortkomingen (the shortcomings). Because shortcomings are inanimate (not people), Dutch grammar forbids using a preposition plus a personal pronoun like in ze. You must use a pronominal adverb instead. Since the standard expression is zich verdiepen in, combining er and in gives us erin.
Where does the word zich come from in this sentence?
It is part of the reflexive verb zich verdiepen in, which translates to "to delve into" or "to immerse oneself in". Because the subject de commissie is a third-person singular noun, it takes the reflexive pronoun zich.
Why is the word order zal zich erin verdiepen rather than zal erin zich verdiepen?
In Dutch sentences, reflexive pronouns like zich generally like to sit as early as possible after the conjugated verb (here, zal). Therefore, zich takes precedence, and the pronominal adverb erin is placed after it, right before the infinitive verb at the end of the clause.
Why are the verbs ziet and zal singular when a committee is made up of multiple people?
Unlike in English where collective nouns can sometimes take a plural verb, Dutch treats collective nouns like de commissie, het team, and de groep as grammatically singular, so they strictly require singular verbs.
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