Breakdown of De laatste pagina van het tijdschrift bevat een moeilijk kruiswoordraadsel.
een
a, an
laatste
last
moeilijk
difficult
van
of
bevatten
to contain
het tijdschrift
the magazine
de pagina
the page
het kruiswoordraadsel
the crossword puzzle
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Questions & Answers about De laatste pagina van het tijdschrift bevat een moeilijk kruiswoordraadsel.
Why is de used with pagina but het with tijdschrift?
In Dutch nouns are either common gender (take de) or neuter (take het). Pagina is a common-gender noun, so it uses de, while tijdschrift is neuter, so it uses het.
Why does laatste have an -e ending in de laatste pagina?
Adjectives preceding a noun get an -e when the noun is definite (with de, a plural or a demonstrative). Since pagina is definite here (introduced by de), laatste takes the -e ending.
Why is it een moeilijk kruiswoordraadsel and not een moeilijke kruiswoordraadsel?
Kruiswoordraadsel is a neuter noun. For indefinite singular neuter nouns (with een), adjectives remain uninflected (no -e). Only adjectives before definite or plural nouns take -e.
Why is the verb bevat placed immediately after De laatste pagina?
Dutch is a verb-second (V2) language. In a main clause the finite verb always appears in the second position. Here De laatste pagina is the first element, so bevat follows it in second position.
Why is kruiswoordraadsel written as one word instead of two?
Dutch compounds merge multiple related words into a single noun. Kruiswoord + raadsel combine to form kruiswoordraadsel (literally “crossword-riddle”), rather than writing them separately.
Why is van used in van het tijdschrift and not uit?
Van indicates possession or source (“the page of the magazine”). You could use uit to emphasize extraction (“an article from inside the magazine”), but when naming the specific page belonging to the magazine, van is standard.
What is the subject of this sentence, and how do you know it’s singular?
The subject is De laatste pagina. You know it’s singular because the verb bevat agrees in third-person singular form; if the subject were plural, you would need a plural verb form (e.g. bevatten doesn’t actually exist, but a plural subject would trigger a plural form or auxiliary).
How would you form the plural of kruiswoordraadsel?
The plural is kruiswoordraadsels (you add -s to the compound). Many Dutch compounds take -s in the plural rather than the regular -en, especially when they end in a consonant cluster.