Word
We accepteren het oordeel over een stuk of tien sollicitanten, maar we twijfelen over hen.
Meaning
We accept the judgment about some ten applicants, but we have doubts about them.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of We accepteren het oordeel over een stuk of tien sollicitanten, maar we twijfelen over hen.
een
a/an
maar
but
tien
ten
het stuk
the piece
Questions & Answers about We accepteren het oordeel over een stuk of tien sollicitanten, maar we twijfelen over hen.
Why do we use over hen instead of the pronominal adverb erover?
This is the core rule of this lesson: animacy! Because sollicitanten (applicants) are humans, you cannot use er + preposition. You must use the preposition followed by a personal pronoun, which gives us over hen (about them). If we were having doubts about inanimate objects, like the applications themselves (sollicitaties), we would be required to use erover.
What exactly does een stuk of tien mean? Doesn't stuk mean "piece"?
While stuk does mean "piece", the phrase een stuk of [number] is a very common Dutch fixed expression that means "about" or "approximately" that number. So een stuk of tien sollicitanten translates to "around ten applicants".
Why is it over hen and not over hun?
In formal Dutch grammar, you must use hen directly after a preposition (like over). The pronoun hun is used as an indirect object when there is no preposition (meaning "to them"). Note that in casual, spoken Dutch, native speakers often mix these up or simply use the unstressed pronoun ze instead.
Why do we use the preposition over with twijfelen here?