Breakdown of Met andere woorden, het kenmerk is exclusief.
exclusief
exclusive
het kenmerk
the feature
met andere woorden
in other words
Questions & Answers about Met andere woorden, het kenmerk is exclusief.
Why doesn't Met andere woorden trigger verb-second inversion here?
Normally, putting a phrase at the start of a sentence forces the verb to come next (V2). However, met andere woorden is acting as a standalone introductory remark here, separated by a comma. Because it sits outside the main clause, the main clause starts with standard word order: subject (het kenmerk) followed by the verb (is).
If I replaced the introduction with a word like bovendien (moreover), would the word order change?
Yes! The connectors you are learning right now (bovendien, daarnaast, verder) are fully integrated into the sentence and do trigger verb-second inversion. If you used one of them, the verb would have to jump in front of the subject: Bovendien is het kenmerk exclusief.
Why does the Dutch phrase use met instead of in?
Prepositions rarely translate directly between languages. While English says 'in other words', Dutch uses a slightly different fixed expression: met andere woorden (literally 'with other words').
Is kenmerk a common word for 'feature'?
Yes, het kenmerk is widely used for a feature, characteristic, or trait. It is a compound of the roots for kennen (to know or recognize) and het merk (the mark or brand), so it literally translates to a 'recognizing mark'.
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