Breakdown of Zonder afwasmiddel blijft het vet op de borden zitten.
blijven
to stay
zitten
to sit
zonder
without
op
on
het bord
the plate
het afwasmiddel
the dish soap
het vet
the grease
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Zonder afwasmiddel blijft het vet op de borden zitten.
What does zonder mean, and what part of speech is it?
Zonder is a preposition meaning without. It introduces what is missing or absent—in this case, washing-up liquid.
What is afwasmiddel? Why is it one word?
Afwasmiddel is a compound noun formed from afwas (washing up) + middel (agent/substance), so it literally means dishwashing agent or dishwashing liquid/detergent. Dutch often combines two or more words into one compound instead of using separate words.
Why is the verb blijft used here instead of just zit?
The construction blijven zitten is a semi-auxiliary + infinitive pattern. Blijven means to remain/stay and zitten here means to sit/remain in place. Together blijft … zitten conveys “remains stuck/does not come off.” If you said het vet zit op de borden, it would simply mean “the grease is on the plates,” without the nuance of “it won’t come off.”
Why is blijft singular? Shouldn’t it agree with “borden” (plates), which is plural?
Subject–verb agreement in Dutch follows the grammatical subject, not the nearest noun. Here the subject is het vet (neutral, singular). That’s why you use blijft (3rd person singular).
Why does het vet come after blijft rather than at the very beginning?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule. When an adverbial or prepositional phrase (Zonder afwasmiddel) starts the sentence, the finite verb (blijft) must come next, and then the subject (het vet).
Why is op de borden placed before the infinitive zitten?
In verb clusters (like blijft zitten), Dutch usually splits the verbs: the finite verb (blijft) goes to position 2, and the infinitive (zitten) goes to the end of the clause. Any objects or adverbials (here op de borden) sit between them.
Could you say Het vet blijft zonder afwasmiddel op de borden zitten?
Yes, that’s grammatically correct. Moving zonder afwasmiddel after the subject changes the emphasis slightly:
- Zonder afwasmiddel blijft het vet … focuses first on the lack of detergent.
- Het vet blijft zonder afwasmiddel … focuses first on “the grease.”
What is the difference between afwasmiddel and afwaszeep?
Both mean “dish soap,” but:
- Afwasmiddel is more general and can refer to liquid, powder or tablet detergent.
- Afwaszeep literally means washing-up soap and is a bit more old-fashioned or suggests a bar/solid soap.
Why is vet preceded by het instead of de?
Nouns in Dutch are either common gender (de-words) or neuter gender (het-words). Vet (grease/fat) is neuter, so it takes the article het. There’s no hard rule—you just have to learn each noun’s gender.