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Questions & Answers about Tom eet te veel brood.
What role does te play in the phrase te veel?
Te functions as an adverb meaning too. When combined with veel (which translates as much or many), the phrase te veel means too much, indicating an excessive amount.
How is the verb eet conjugated in this sentence, and what should you note about its form?
Eet is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb eten (to eat). This conjugation aligns with the singular subject Tom, confirming that he is the one doing the eating.
Why is there no article before brood, and what does that tell us about the noun?
In Dutch, uncountable or mass nouns like brood (bread) often appear without an article when referring to the substance in general. This is similar to English, where we say, “Tom eats too much bread,” without using an article before bread.
Is the word order in Tom eet te veel brood similar to that in English, and how is it structured?
Yes, the word order is similar. Dutch typically uses a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure like English. In this sentence, Tom is the subject, eet is the verb, and te veel brood functions as the object, with the adverbial phrase te veel describing the excessive quantity.
Could the sentence be rearranged for emphasis, and what alternatives might a speaker use?
While the basic SVO structure is preferred in Dutch, you can sometimes rearrange elements to emphasize a particular part of the sentence. For example, to emphasize the excessive amount of bread, you might say "Te veel brood eet Tom." However, such inversions are less common in everyday speech, and the original order is generally most natural.