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
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?