Breakdown of Anna is een beetje zenuwachtig, maar Tom blijft kalm en lacht naar haar.
zijn
to be
Anna
Anna
Tom
Tom
maar
but
en
and
blijven
to stay
een
a, an
haar
her
het beetje
the bit
zenuwachtig
nervous
kalm
calm
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Anna is een beetje zenuwachtig, maar Tom blijft kalm en lacht naar haar.
What does een beetje mean, and why is it placed directly before zenuwachtig?
een beetje literally means “a little” or “a bit.” In Dutch it is a fixed collocation used to soften adjectives, so you say een beetje zenuwachtig (“a bit nervous”) rather than zenuwachtig een beetje. Adverbs like een beetje typically precede the adjective they modify.
Why is the adjective zenuwachtig not changing form (no extra ending)?
In Dutch, adjectives remain uninflected when used predicatively (after a form of zijn, blijven, etc.). Since zenuwachtig follows is, it stays in its base form. You would only inflect it (e.g. zenuwachtige) when it directly modifies a noun with a definite article or adjective ending.
Why do we use blijven in Tom blijft kalm instead of just zijn?
blijven means “to remain” or “to stay,” adding the nuance that Tom continues to be calm despite Anna’s nerves. You could say Tom is kalm, but Tom blijft kalm emphasizes that he stays calm throughout the situation.
Why is it kalm and not kalme in Tom blijft kalm?
Again, kalm is used predicatively after the verb blijven, so it takes the uninflected base form. If you used it attributively (before a noun) with a de-word, you would say de kalme man (“the calm man”).
What does lacht naar haar mean exactly? Does it mean “laughs at her” or “smiles at her”?
In this context, lachen naar iemand means “to smile at someone.” Though lachen alone is “to laugh,” the construction naar iemand lachen conveys a friendly, smiling gesture. If you meant “laugh at her” in the sense of making fun, you’d say om haar lachen or om haar lachen with a different structure.
Could you use glimlachen instead of lachen naar haar?
Yes, glimlachen means “to smile” directly, so Tom glimlacht naar haar also works. The original uses lachen naar haar, which is perfectly idiomatic but a bit more descriptive (“laughs toward her”).
Is the comma before maar mandatory in Dutch?
Yes, when you join two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction like maar (“but”), standard Dutch punctuation calls for a comma before the conjunction. So …, maar … is the correct form.
Could we say Tom is kalm en lacht naar haar instead of Tom blijft kalm en lacht naar haar?
Grammatically yes—you can replace blijft with is. However, blijft kalm highlights that Tom continues to stay calm in contrast to Anna’s nerves, whereas Tom is kalm simply states a fact without that ongoing nuance.