Behalve het geluid van de airco was het in de ruimte prima stil.

Apart from the sound of the air-conditioning, the space was nice and quiet.

Breakdown of Behalve het geluid van de airco was het in de ruimte prima stil.

• zijn: to be
• in: in
• het: it
• van: of
• stil: quiet
• de airco: the air-conditioning
• de ruimte: the space
• behalve: apart from
• het geluid: the sound
• prima: nice

Questions & Answers about Behalve het geluid van de airco was het in de ruimte prima stil.

What does behalve mean, and how is it used here?

Behalve means except for or apart from. It’s used as a preposition before a noun or noun phrase to mark an exception. In this sentence:

• Behalve het geluid van de airco = Except for the sound of the air conditioner.

Why don’t we add dat after behalve (as in behalve dat…)?

When behalve is followed directly by a noun or noun phrase, it functions as a preposition—you don’t use dat. You only say behalve dat if you want to introduce a full clause (subject + verb):

• Behalve dat hij te laat was, had hij goed geoefend.
  In our example behalve only excludes het geluid, so no dat is needed.

Why does the verb was come before the subject het here?

Dutch follows the V2 rule: the finite verb occupies the second position in a main clause. Since the sentence opens with an adverbial phrase (Behalve het geluid van de airco), the verb was jumps into slot 2, pushing the subject het to slot 3:

1. Behalve het geluid van de airco
2. was
3. het
4. in de ruimte prima stil.

What is the role of the het before in de ruimte? Could we drop it?

That het is a dummy (impersonal) subject. Dutch normally requires an explicit subject even in impersonal statements:

• Het regent.
• Het is warm.
  Without het this sentence would be ungrammatical: “In de ruimte was prima stil” doesn’t work.

What does prima stil mean? Why not just stil?

Prima is an intensifier meaning really, very or fine. So prima stil = really quiet. Simply stil = quiet, but prima stil stresses that it was very quiet.

Is ruimte the same as kamer? Could I say in de kamer instead?

• Ruimte means space or area, and can refer to any kind of room or open space (office, hall, garage, etc.).
• Kamer specifically denotes a room in a house or apartment (bedroom, living room).
  You can say in de kamer if you mean a particular room in a home; in de ruimte is more general.

Why is it het geluid but de airco in het geluid van de airco?

• Geluid (sound) is a neuter noun, so it takes het.
• Airco (air conditioner) is a common-gender noun, so it takes de.
  Thus: het geluid van de airco = the sound of the air conditioner.

What part of speech is prima here, and how does it interact with stil?

In this sentence prima is an adverbial intensifier modifying the adjective stil. In Dutch, such intensifiers precede the adjective:

• goed → erg goed (very good)
• stil → prima stil (very quiet)
  (Although prima can also be used as an adjective in other contexts, here it strengthens stil.)