Breakdown of Het percentage mensen dat in het park fietst is hoog.
zijn
to be
in
in
het park
the park
dat
that
Questions & Answers about Het percentage mensen dat in het park fietst is hoog.
Why is het percentage preceded by het and not de?
The noun percentage is a neuter noun in Dutch, which takes the definite article het in the singular. Neuter nouns never use de in the singular (you would say de percentages in the plural).
Why is the verb in the main clause is and not zijn?
The subject of the main clause is het percentage, which is singular, so it takes the singular verb is rather than the plural zijn.
Why do we say mensen without an article like de or een?
After a measure noun (like percentage) you often link directly to a bare plural noun to express “a proportion of people.” If you wanted to refer to a specific group of people you would add an article, for example het percentage van de mensen.
Why is there no van between percentage and mensen?
When using a measure noun to indicate proportion, Dutch allows you to drop van and go straight from the measure noun to the plural. If you insert van, you generally also add a definite article: het percentage van de mensen.