Breakdown of Het plafond in onze nieuwe kamer is erg hoog.
zijn
to be
in
in
nieuw
new
onze
our
de kamer
the room
erg
very
hoog
high
het plafond
the ceiling
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Questions & Answers about Het plafond in onze nieuwe kamer is erg hoog.
Why is it het plafond and not de plafond?
In Dutch every noun is either a de-word (common gender) or a het-word (neuter). Plafond is classified as a neuter noun, so it takes het.
Why is hoog not inflected (no -e) in is erg hoog?
After a linking verb like zijn (“to be”), the adjective is used predicatively and remains in its base form. If you said “het hoge plafond”, it’d be attributive (before a noun), so you’d add -e there.
Why do we use in onze nieuwe kamer and not just onze nieuwe kamer?
In is the preposition meaning “in” or “inside.” Since you want to express location (the ceiling is inside the room), you need the preposition in before onze nieuwe kamer.
Why is it onze nieuwe kamer and not ons nieuwe kamer?
Possessive pronouns in Dutch agree with the gender (and number) of the noun they modify. Kamer is a de-word (common gender), so it takes onze. You would use ons only with singular het-words (e.g. ons huis).
Why does nieuw take an -e ending in nieuwe kamer?
When an adjective comes before a noun that has a definite article (de/het) or a possessive pronoun (onze, zijn, haar, etc.), it always gets an -e ending, no matter the gender. Hence nieuwe kamer.
Could we say heel hoog instead of erg hoog?
Yes. Both erg and heel serve as intensifiers:
- erg hoog (very high)
- heel hoog (very high)
They’re largely interchangeable, though some speakers feel erg is slightly stronger in certain contexts.
Why is the verb is placed right after the subject?
In Dutch main clauses, the usual word order is S-V-O (Subject-Verb-Object) or S-V-Complement. Here “Het plafond” is the subject, “is” the verb, and “erg hoog” the complement, so it follows the standard order.