Breakdown of Een kameel kan dagenlang door de woestijn lopen zonder water.
het water
the water
lopen
to walk
kunnen
can
een
a, an
zonder
without
door
through
de kameel
the camel
dagenlang
for days
de woestijn
the desert
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Questions & Answers about Een kameel kan dagenlang door de woestijn lopen zonder water.
What does een mean in this sentence and when do you use it?
Een is the Dutch indefinite article, equivalent to a or an in English. You use it when you refer to something non-specific or one item of a kind. In Een kameel… it means “a camel”, talking about camels in general, not a particular camel.
What is the function of kan here?
Kan is the present‐tense form of the modal verb kunnen, meaning can or to be able to. It expresses ability or possibility: “A camel can walk…” rather than stating that it always walks.
Why does lopen appear at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch, when you use a modal verb like kan, the conjugated verb (kan) goes in second position while the main verb stays in its infinitive form at the end. The pattern is: Subject – finite verb – other elements – infinitive.
What does dagenlang mean and how is it formed?
Dagenlang is an adverb meaning “for days on end”. It’s formed by taking dagen (the plural of dag, “day”) and adding -lang, which turns it into a duration: lasting several days.
Why is it door de woestijn instead of in de woestijn?
Door indicates movement through something, so door de woestijn means “through the desert.” If you said in de woestijn, it would mean “in the desert” but without emphasizing the movement from one side to the other.
Why is there no article before water after zonder?
After zonder (meaning without), you typically use an uncountable noun without any article. Water here is uncountable, so you just say zonder water = “without water.” If it were countable, you might need an article or numeral.
Why is woestijn preceded by de even though we’re speaking generally?
In Dutch, when you talk about a location (especially with a preposition like door), you often use the definite article: door de woestijn = through the desert. It doesn’t imply a specific, known desert, just deserts in general.
Could you move zonder water earlier in the sentence?
Yes, you could say Een kameel kan zonder water dagenlang door de woestijn lopen, but it slightly shifts the emphasis. Dutch word order is fairly flexible, but the original puts the time span (dagenlang) closer to the action (lopen) and the condition (zonder water) at the end for clarity.
Why is lopen used here? Can we use another verb like wandelen or rennen?
Lopen means to walk (or more generally to go on foot). You could say rennen (to run) or wandelen (to stroll), but that changes the meaning. Een kameel kan dagenlang lopen… emphasizes its ability to travel on foot over long distances.
Why is dagenlang one word, not two like dagen lang?
When you form a duration adverb in Dutch by adding -lang to a noun in the plural, you typically write it as one word: dagenlang, urenlang, wekenlang, etc. Splitting it into dagen lang would be considered incorrect here.