Breakdown of Anna reageert snel op het nieuws.
Anna
Anna
snel
quickly
het nieuws
the news
reageren
to respond
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Questions & Answers about Anna reageert snel op het nieuws.
What is the role of the preposition op in the sentence?
Op is required by the verb reageren. In this context, it indicates the target of the reaction—what Anna is reacting to. Although op literally translates as “on,” when combined with reageren it idiomatically means “to” in English (as in “respond to the news”).
How is the verb reageert formed, and what does this tell us about the subject?
Reageert is the third person singular present tense form of the verb reageren. Because Anna is the subject, Dutch requires the verb to be conjugated for a singular third-person subject, which is why a -t is added to the stem. This is a common regular conjugation pattern in Dutch.
Why is the adverb snel placed between the verb and the prepositional phrase?
In Dutch sentence structure, adverbs like snel are typically positioned immediately after the conjugated verb. This placement helps to clearly modify how the action is performed—in this case, emphasizing that Anna reacts quickly.
What is the function of het nieuws in the sentence, and why is the article het used?
Het nieuws serves as the object of the prepositional phrase introduced by op, identifying what Anna is reacting to. The definite article het is used because nieuws is a neuter noun in Dutch, and neuter nouns take het as their definite article.
How does the overall word order in this Dutch sentence compare to an equivalent English sentence?
The word order in “Anna reageert snel op het nieuws” is quite similar to English. It follows a Subject-Verb-Adverb-Prepositional Object pattern, just as in “Anna reacts quickly to the news.” The main difference lies in the fixed verb-preposition combination (reageren op) that is unique to Dutch, which learners need to memorize.