Breakdown of De zuster werkt met de verkoopster samen.
de verkoopster
the female shop assistant
de zuster
the sister / the nurse
Questions & Answers about De zuster werkt met de verkoopster samen.
How is the feminine word verkoopster formed?
It is derived from the masculine or general noun verkoper (salesperson). To create a feminine title for a profession that ends in -er, Dutch typically replaces the -er with the suffix -ster.
Does zuster follow the exact same rule?
Not exactly. Even though it ends in -ster, zuster originally just means "sister" and became the traditional word for a female nurse. It isn't built by adding a suffix to a masculine root word. The traditional term for a male nurse is broeder (brother), though nowadays the gender-neutral verpleegkundige is the standard term for both.
Are feminine forms like verkoopster still strictly used for women nowadays?
They are still very common in everyday speech, but gender-neutral titles are becoming the standard in the Netherlands. A female saleswoman will often just be referred to as a verkoper or a verkoopmedewerker (sales employee) in professional settings today.
Why is samen sitting all the way at the end of the sentence?
This is a quick reminder about separable verbs! The infinitive here is samenwerken (to work together). In a standard main clause, the conjugated part of the verb (werkt) takes the second position, and the separable prefix (samen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Learn De zuster werkt met de verkoopster samen and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free