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Questions & Answers about Mijn werkdag is lang.
What does each word in Mijn werkdag is lang mean?
Mijn means my. Werkdag is a compound noun made from werk (work) and dag (day), which together mean workday. Is is the third-person singular present form of the verb zijn (to be), and lang means long. So, the sentence translates word for word as “My workday is long.”
Why is werkdag written as one word instead of two separate words?
In Dutch, compound nouns are commonly formed by combining two words into one. Here, werk (“work”) and dag (“day”) join to form werkdag (“workday”). This is a typical pattern in Dutch vocabulary formation.
Why isn’t there a definite article before werkdag (like “de” or “het”)?
When a noun is preceded by a possessive adjective like mijn (“my”), the definite article is omitted. So, instead of saying “de werkdag” or “het werkdag,” you naturally say mijn werkdag to indicate “my workday.”
What is the function of mijn in this sentence?
Mijn is a possessive adjective. Its role is to show ownership, specifying that the workday belongs to the speaker. It directly modifies werkdag in the same way “my” modifies “workday” in English.
How is the adjective lang used in this sentence, and does its position affect its form?
Lang is used as a predicate adjective following the linking verb is. In Dutch, adjectives used in this predicate position are not inflected (they do not receive an extra ending). This is similar to English, where the adjective “long” remains unchanged even though adjectives placed before a noun (attributive adjectives) might sometimes take on different forms or require additional markers in other languages.
What can you say about the verb is in this sentence?
The word is is the third-person singular present form of the irregular Dutch verb zijn (“to be”). It functions as the linking verb in the sentence, connecting the subject mijn werkdag with the predicate adjective lang.
Is the sentence structure of Mijn werkdag is lang similar to that in English?
Yes, the structure is very similar. Both Dutch and English use a subject followed by a linking verb and a predicate adjective in this construction. In English, we have “My workday is long,” which mirrors the Dutch sentence in both word order and overall meaning.