Questions & Answers about De heer is een bekende zakenman.
Since this lesson is about irregular plurals, what is the plural of zakenman?
Following the pattern you are learning, the plural is usually zakenlieden or zakenlui (businesspeople). While zakenmannen is sometimes used, the forms ending in -lieden (more formal) and -lui (more casual) are the standard ways to refer to a group of business professionals.
Why does the adjective bekende have an -e at the end even though it follows the indefinite article een?
Adjectives coming after een only drop the -e ending if the noun they describe is a neuter noun (a het-word). Because zakenman is a de-word (de zakenman), the adjective takes the standard -e ending, making it bekende.
Why is there an -en- in the middle of the compound noun zakenman?
That is a linking sound used to glue two nouns together. In this case, it uses the plural of zaak (business or affair), which is zaken. So a zakenman is literally a man of businesses or affairs.
I've seen de heer used to mean God. How do I know it just means the gentleman here?
Context is everything. While de Heer (often capitalized) does mean the Lord in religious contexts, de heer in everyday language translates to the gentleman or acts as the formal title for Mr. (as in de heer Smit). The mention of him being a businessman makes it clear we are talking about a regular gentleman here.
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