Breakdown of De op drie na kleinste stad is gegroeid, deels door migratie, deels door bevolkingsgroei.
zijn
to be
klein
small
drie
three
de stad
the city
Questions & Answers about De op drie na kleinste stad is gegroeid, deels door migratie, deels door bevolkingsgroei.
How does op drie na kleinste translate to "fourth smallest"?
The construction op [number] na literally means "except for [number]". So, de op drie na kleinste stad means "the smallest city, except for three". If exactly three cities are smaller than this one, it means this city ranks fourth. As a handy rule for English speakers, you add one to the Dutch number to get the English ranking (e.g., op een na = second, op drie na = fourth).
Why does the superlative kleinst get an -e ending here?
Because it modifies stad, which is a de-word (de stad). Even though the phrase op drie na sits between the article de and the superlative, kleinste still functions as a standard adjective modifying the noun, so it requires the standard -e ending.
Why is is gegroeid used instead of heeft gegroeid?
The verb groeien (to grow) indicates a change of state. In Dutch, verbs that express a change of state or a transformation (like groeien, sterven, or smelten) take zijn as their auxiliary verb in the perfect tenses, rather than hebben.
How does the structure deels ..., deels ... work?
Deels translates to "partly" or "in part". Repeating it as deels ..., deels ... is a common, elegant way to express "partly [this], partly [that]" when you want to list multiple contributing factors or reasons in a sentence.