Breakdown of De situatie is nieuw, en wij leren erover.
zijn
to be
wij
we
leren
to learn
nieuw
new
en
and
de situatie
the situation
erover
about it
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Questions & Answers about De situatie is nieuw, en wij leren erover.
What does the article de mean in this sentence?
De is the Dutch definite article and is equivalent to the in English. It is used here with situatie (situation), which is a common gender noun.
What does nieuw indicate in the sentence?
Nieuw is an adjective meaning new. It tells us that the situation is recent or unfamiliar, much like saying "The situation is new" in English.
What is the role of er in the phrase leren erover?
In this construction, er acts as a pronoun that refers back to the situation mentioned earlier. It combines with the preposition over to effectively mean about it, so leren erover translates to are learning about it.
Why is the subject wij explicitly used in the sentence?
While Dutch sometimes allows subjects to be dropped when the verb form makes them clear, wij (meaning we) is included here for clarity and emphasis. This makes it clear who is doing the learning.
How does the word order in this Dutch sentence compare to English?
The structure is quite similar to English. The first clause, De situatie is nieuw, follows a subject-verb-adjective order, just like The situation is new. The second clause, en wij leren erover, has the subject wij, followed by the verb leren and then the complement erover (standing for about it). One point to note is that Dutch often inserts pronouns like er between the verb and the preposition, which is a fixed order that may seem different from English at first.