Breakdown of De overheid werkt samen met de politie.
met
with
samenwerken
to work together
de politie
the police
de overheid
the government
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about De overheid werkt samen met de politie.
Why is the separable prefix samen placed after werkt instead of being attached to the verb?
In Dutch, many verbs are separable. The full infinitive is samenwerken, meaning “to work together.” In a main clause, the verb splits: the conjugated part werkt comes directly after the subject, while the prefix samen is placed at the end. This structure is a common aspect of Dutch sentence construction.
What does de overheid mean in this sentence?
De overheid translates to the government in English. It refers to the governing body or the state, and the definite article de is used because overheid is a common noun in Dutch that takes that article.
How should I interpret the phrase met de politie?
The phrase met de politie means with the police. Here, the preposition met functions like the English “with,” and de politie refers to “the police.” This construction indicates that the government collaborates or works together with the police.
How does the sentence structure compare to English word order?
The overall word order in Dutch is similar to English. The subject (de overheid) comes first, followed by the conjugated verb (werkt). Although the separable prefix (samen) moves to the end of the clause, the sentence still follows a Subject-Verb-Object pattern, making it relatively easy for English speakers to understand.
What does the conjugation werkt tell us about the subject in this sentence?
The form werkt is the third-person singular conjugation of the verb werken. Even though de overheid represents a collective entity, Dutch treats it as a singular noun, so the singular verb form werkt agrees with the subject.