Breakdown of Je krijgt de tafel een stuk steviger zonder die scheve plank.
jij
you
een
a/an
de tafel
the table
het stuk
the piece
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
krijgen
to get (receive)
zonder
without
de plank
the shelf / the board
stevig
firm
scheef
crooked
Questions & Answers about Je krijgt de tafel een stuk steviger zonder die scheve plank.
Why use krijgt here instead of a verb like maakt? Doesn't krijgen usually mean to receive?
While krijgen often means to receive, in this structure (krijgen + object + adjective) it expresses managing to achieve a certain state. Je krijgt de tafel steviger implies you put in some effort to get the table into a sturdier condition, whereas using maakt would just state the factual action of making it sturdier.
What does een stuk mean in this sentence?
Literally it means a piece, but used before a comparative adjective like steviger, it acts as an adverb meaning a lot or much. Saying een stuk steviger is a very natural Dutch way to say a lot sturdier.
Why is the word for crooked spelled as scheve here instead of scheef?
Since plank is a de word, the adjective gets an -e ending after die. When you add -e to scheef, the f changes to a v to keep the pronunciation smooth. Additionally, the double ee becomes a single e because the extra syllable makes it an open syllable.
If I wanted to emphasize the plank, could I start the sentence with zonder die scheve plank?
Absolutely! Just remember to apply inversion if you do. The verb must always be the second element in the sentence, so the subject je and the verb krijgt will swap places: Zonder die scheve plank krijg je de tafel een stuk steviger.
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