Questions & Answers about Wij zijn afhankelijk van het weer.
English uses "on" for "depend on". Why does Dutch use van here?
In Dutch, the adjective afhankelijk (dependent) always takes the fixed preposition van (from/of). Fixed prepositions often do not match their English equivalents, so you just have to memorize afhankelijk van as a set phrase.
The English translation says "depend", which is a verb. Is afhankelijk a verb too?
No, afhankelijk is an adjective meaning "dependent". That is why the Dutch sentence uses the verb zijn (to be). Literally, this sentence translates to "We are dependent on the weather".
Is there a way to use a verb for "depend" in Dutch, instead of the adjective?
Yes! The verb for this is afhangen. You could also say Wij hangen af van het weer. Notice that it is a separable verb (af + hangen) and it still takes that same fixed preposition van.
How would I say "independent of the weather"?
You just add the prefix on- to the adjective to make onafhankelijk. Conveniently, it uses the exact same fixed preposition, so you would say onafhankelijk van het weer.
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