Breakdown of Het weer is vandaag verschrikkelijk, dus ik blijf thuis.
ik
I
zijn
to be
vandaag
today
blijven
to stay
het weer
the weather
dus
so
thuis
home
verschrikkelijk
terrible
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Questions & Answers about Het weer is vandaag verschrikkelijk, dus ik blijf thuis.
What does het weer mean, and why is it het instead of de?
het weer literally means the weather. Dutch nouns are either common gender (use de) or neuter gender (use het). weer is a neuter noun, so it takes het.
What does verschrikkelijk mean, and why doesn’t it end in -e here?
verschrikkelijk means “terrible” or “horrible.” In Dutch, adjectives used predicatively (after a linking verb like zijn/is) stay in their base form and do not get an -e ending. You would only use verschrikkelijke when the adjective directly modifies a noun (e.g. een verschrikkelijke storm).
What is the function of dus, and how does it connect the two parts of the sentence?
dus is a coordinating conjunction meaning “so” or “therefore.” It links two main clauses and signals that the second clause is a logical consequence of the first. Here:
– Clause 1: Het weer is vandaag verschrikkelijk
– Clause 2: ik blijf thuis
Why is there a comma before dus, and is it mandatory?
In Dutch, it’s common to separate two main clauses with a comma when a conjunction like dus appears. It improves readability, but it’s not strictly mandatory—in informal writing you might see it omitted.
Why is vandaag placed between the verb and the adjective, and could it appear at the beginning?
Dutch main clauses follow the “V2” (verb-second) rule and generally use the order Subject – Verb – Time – Manner – Place. Here vandaag is a time adverb, so it comes after the verb: is vandaag verschrikkelijk. You can also front vandaag, but then the finite verb must stay in second position:
Vandaag is het weer verschrikkelijk.
Why is thuis at the end of the sentence, and what type of word is it here?
Here thuis is an adverb of place (“at home”). Dutch typically places adverbials after the verb (S–V–M–P). Also, thuisblijven is a separable verb; in the present tense the particle thuis moves to the clause end: ik blijf thuis.
Can I say Ik blijf vandaag thuis or Vandaag blijf ik thuis instead? Does the emphasis change?
Yes. All three are correct:
- Ik blijf thuis. (neutral)
- Ik blijf vandaag thuis. (emphasizes “today”)
- Vandaag blijf ik thuis. (emphasizes “today” even more by fronting it)
How do you pronounce the sch in verschrikkelijk?
The Dutch sch is pronounced as with an [s] and immediately follow with the voiceless velar fricative (like the “ch” in Scottish “loch”). So verschrikkelijk sounds roughly like “vər-SKHRIK-uh-lik.”