Breakdown of De politie controleert de snelheid op de weg.
controleren
to check
op
on
de weg
the road
de politie
the police
de snelheid
the speed
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Questions & Answers about De politie controleert de snelheid op de weg.
Why does de politie take a singular verb controleert? Shouldn't it be plural like in English?
In Dutch politie is a singular collective noun. Even though it refers to a group, it behaves grammatically like a single unit, so you use the 3rd-person-singular form controleert, not controleren.
What’s the difference between controleren and meten here?
controleren means “to check or enforce compliance,” while meten means “to measure.” The police controleren de snelheid (check that drivers comply with speed limits), not just meten it.
Why is there a double e in controleert?
The infinitive is controleren (c-o-n-t-r-o-l-e-e-r-e-n) with a long ee. When you form the stem (controleer) you keep both e letters to preserve that long vowel, then add t: controleert.
Why do we add -t to the verb in the 3rd person singular present?
Dutch conjugation for most verbs in the present tense is: stem + t for hij/zij/het (he/she/it). You form the stem by dropping -en from the infinitive. E.g. werk-en → werk- + t = werkt; controleren → controleer- + t = controleert.
Why is snelheid singular and does it ever appear as snelheden?
Here snelheid refers to the general concept or the speed of a vehicle at a moment in time, so the singular is natural. The plural snelheden exists (multiple distinct speeds), but in this context you talk about “checking the speed” in general, not “the (various) speeds.”
Why is the preposition op used in op de weg, not in?
op indicates location on a surface (“on the road”). in de weg would mean “in the way” (blocking). To talk about measuring/enforcing speed where vehicles drive, you use op de weg.
Why are both snelheid and weg using the article de?
Dutch nouns have two genders: common (de) and neuter (het). Both snelheid and weg are common-gender nouns, so they take de. You generally learn these on a case-by-case basis or consult a dictionary.
What’s the typical word order that results in de snelheid coming before op de weg?
In a main clause Dutch follows Subject–Verb–Object–Adverbial. Here:
Subject = De politie
Verb = controleert
Object = de snelheid
Adverbial (location) = op de weg