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Breakdown of De schilder werkt buiten en gebruikt een brede borstel voor de muur.
en
and
voor
for
werken
to work
een
a, an
gebruiken
to use
buiten
outside
de muur
the wall
de schilder
the painter
breed
wide
de borstel
the brush
Questions & Answers about De schilder werkt buiten en gebruikt een brede borstel voor de muur.
Why is de used before schilder instead of het?
In Dutch, nouns are either “de”-words or “het”-words. Most nouns take de, and schilder (painter) belongs to that group. Therefore you say de schilder.
Why does brede end in -e?
When an adjective precedes a singular de-word (even with the indefinite article een), you add -e. Here borstel is a de-word and it’s introduced by een, so the adjective becomes brede: een brede borstel.
Why is there no preposition before buiten?
Here buiten functions as an adverb meaning “outside.” Adverbs don’t need a preposition. If you wanted a prepositional phrase, you might say in de buitenlucht, but simply werkt buiten is idiomatic.
Why does gebruikt end in -t?
Dutch verbs in the third-person singular present tense take -t. The verb gebruiken is conjugated as:
• ik gebruik
• jij/u gebruikt
• hij/zij gebruikt
So with de schilder (he) you use gebruikt.
Why is voor used in voor de muur, and not op or tegen?
voor here indicates purpose or target (“for the wall”), i.e. that the brush is intended to paint the wall.
- op de muur would mean “on the wall” (physically resting on it).
- tegen de muur means “against the wall” (leaning on it).
So voor de muur is the correct choice for “for (painting) the wall.”
Why are werkt and gebruikt both in second position in the sentence?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule: the finite verb comes in the second slot. Because we have two main clauses joined by en, each clause treats its verb separately:
- De schilder (1) werkt (2) buiten (3)…
- (en) (1) gebruikt (2) een brede borstel (3)…
That’s why both werkt and gebruikt appear as the second element of their respective clauses.
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