Breakdown of Zij heeft last van het hoesten.
hoesten
to cough
last hebben van
to be bothered by / to suffer from
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Questions & Answers about Zij heeft last van het hoesten.
How could I add wat to this sentence to say she is "somewhat" bothered by the coughing?
You can place it right before last, making it: Zij heeft wat last van het hoesten. Using the grammar from this lesson, wat acts as an adverb meaning "a little" or "somewhat", softening the impact of the phrase last hebben van.
Is last hebben van a fixed expression?
Yes, last hebben van is a very common Dutch phrase. While de last literally means "the burden" or "the load", the full expression translates to "being bothered by", "suffering from", or "having trouble with" something.
Why is the word het placed right in front of the verb hoesten?
Placing het before a full verb (the infinitive) turns it into a noun, just like adding "-ing" in English. While hoesten means "to cough", het hoesten means "the coughing". All verbs turned into nouns this way automatically become het words.
Could I use ze instead of zij in this sentence?
Yes, you can. Zij is the stressed version of the pronoun, which puts slight emphasis on the fact that she (and perhaps not someone else) is bothered by it. If you do not need that extra emphasis, Ze heeft last van het hoesten is perfectly natural.