De vogels zingen prachtig in de tuin.

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Breakdown of De vogels zingen prachtig in de tuin.

• de tuin: the garden
• zingen: to sing
• de vogel: the bird
• prachtig: beautiful

Questions & Answers about De vogels zingen prachtig in de tuin.

What is the subject and main verb in the sentence?

The subject is de vogels (the birds) and the main verb is zingen (to sing). Since de vogels is plural, the verb stays in its base form zingen instead of taking a singular –t ending.

How does the word prachtig function in this sentence?

Prachtig describes how the birds are singing. Although it looks like an adjective, here it is used adverbially to mean beautifully. In Dutch, adverbs that come from adjectives typically remain uninflected.

Why is the definite article de used with both vogels and tuin?

In Dutch, de is the definite article for all plural nouns and for singular nouns of the common gender. Vogels is plural, and tuin (garden) is a common gender singular noun, which is why both use de.

What does the prepositional phrase in de tuin indicate, and why is it placed at the end of the sentence?

In de tuin means in the garden and specifies the location of the action. Dutch word order often places adverbial phrases like this after the verb and any adverbial modifiers, which naturally positions it at the end of the sentence.

How would the verb change if the subject were singular instead of plural?

If the subject were singular—say, de vogel (the bird)—the verb would take the singular form zingt. The sentence would then be: De vogel zingt prachtig in de tuin.