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Breakdown of De deur opent rustig wanneer ik hem aanraak.
ik
I
de deur
the door
wanneer
when
aanraken
to touch
rustig
quietly
openen
to open
Questions & Answers about De deur opent rustig wanneer ik hem aanraak.
Why does the verb opent end with a "t"?
In Dutch, when the subject is third-person singular (like de deur), you add a "t" to the verb in the present tense. So "openen" becomes "opent" for "de deur."
Why do we say hem instead of het?
The noun deur is masculine in Dutch, so the correct pronoun is hem ("him") rather than het ("it"). This reflects Dutch grammatical gender rather than literal "male-ness."
Can we say opent zich instead?
You could theoretically say "de deur opent zich," but it's less common. The typical phrasing is simply "de deur opent," because "zich" would imply a reflexive action, which is not the usual way to describe a door opening in Dutch.
Is wanneer the only word for "when"?
Dutch often uses als for "when" as well, especially in conversational language. Wanneer tends to sound a bit more formal or precise, but both are acceptable in most contexts.
Why does aanraak have two "a"s?
The base verb is aanraken, spelled with aan + raken. When you conjugate it for "ik," you keep both "a"s in "aanraak."
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