Word
Met andere woorden, het kenmerk is exclusief.
Meaning
In other words, the feature is exclusive.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Met andere woorden, het kenmerk is exclusief.
exclusief
exclusive
het kenmerk
the feature
met andere woorden
in other words
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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'.