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Questions & Answers about De politie wacht bij de deur.
Why is the definite article de used with politie instead of het?
In Dutch, many nouns—including collective nouns like politie—use the article de because politie is a common gender noun. Although some neuter nouns take het, politie is not one of them.
Why is the verb wacht used instead of the infinitive wachten?
The verb wacht is the third person singular present tense form of wachten. Even though politie refers to a group, it is treated as a singular collective noun in Dutch, so the singular conjugation is required.
What does the preposition bij mean in this sentence?
In this context, bij translates to at or by in English. It indicates the location where the action occurs – in this case, the police are waiting at the door.
How is the sentence structured compared to English word order?
The sentence follows a simple structure: Subject (De politie) followed by the Verb (wacht) and then a Prepositional Phrase (bij de deur). This order is similar to basic English sentence construction (subject-verb-prepositional phrase).
Could you break down the meaning of each word in the sentence?
Certainly. De means the, politie translates to police, wacht means waits or is waiting, bij stands for at or by, and de deur means the door. Together, they form the sentence: "The police are waiting at the door."
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