Breakdown of Dat ondergoed is een opvallend kledingstuk.
het kledingstuk
the piece of clothing
opvallend
striking / conspicuous
het ondergoed
the underwear
Questions & Answers about Dat ondergoed is een opvallend kledingstuk.
How would we apply this lesson's topic (Left Dislocation) to this sentence to put extra emphasis on the underwear?
You would isolate the topic at the start, add a comma, and insert a demonstrative pronoun right before the verb. Because ondergoed is a het word, the correct pronoun to refer back to it is dat. The sentence becomes: Dat ondergoed, dat is een opvallend kledingstuk.
Why is it een opvallend kledingstuk and not een opvallende kledingstuk?
This is a great chance to refresh a tricky earlier rule! Kledingstuk is a het word (because of het stuk). When an adjective comes before a het noun that is introduced by een (or no article at all), the adjective drops the standard -e ending.
How is the word opvallend formed?
It is the present participle of the separable verb opvallen (to stand out / to catch the eye), formed simply by adding -d to the infinitive. Used here as an adjective, it means "standing out" or "striking".
Does Dutch treat ondergoed as a singular or plural concept?
Just like "underwear" in English, ondergoed is treated as a singular mass noun (an uncountable category). That is why it pairs with the singular demonstrative pronoun dat and the singular verb is.
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