Breakdown of Het geografische gebied heeft de op twee na snelste bevolkingsgroei.
hebben
to have
twee
two
snel
fast
op
on
het
it
het gebied
the area
na
after (preposition)
geografisch
geographical
de bevolkingsgroei
the population growth
Questions & Answers about Het geografische gebied heeft de op twee na snelste bevolkingsgroei.
How exactly does op twee na mean "third"?
In Dutch, you form ranked superlatives using the structure op [number] na [superlative]. Literally, op twee na snelste means "fastest, after two others" (so, two are faster, making this one the third fastest). To say "second fastest," you would use op één na snelste.
Why is the article de used before op twee na snelste?
The article belongs to the noun at the very end of the phrase: bevolkingsgroei (population growth). Because groei is a de-word, the whole phrase takes de. If the noun were a het-word, such as land (country), the sentence would use het: het op twee na snelste land.
Why does geografisch get an -e ending here, even though gebied is a het-word?
Adjectives before het-words only drop the -e ending when they follow the indefinite article een or no article at all (e.g., een geografisch gebied). Because this sentence uses the definite article het ("the"), the adjective takes the standard -e ending: het geografische gebied.
Why is there an s in the middle of bevolkingsgroei?
This is a linking s (called a tussen-s) used to glue two nouns together into a compound word: bevolking (population) + s + groei (growth). As a general rule, when the first noun in a compound ends in -ing, it almost always takes a linking s.
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