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Breakdown of Ik draag een zonnebril omdat het licht erg fel is.
ik
I
zijn
to be
omdat
because
erg
very
een
a, an
fel
bright
dragen
to wear
het licht
the light
de zonnebril
the sunglasses
Questions & Answers about Ik draag een zonnebril omdat het licht erg fel is.
What does draag mean and which verb is it?
draag is the first person singular present tense of dragen, which means “to wear” (it can also mean “to carry”). Here it translates as “I wear” or “I am wearing.”
Why is there een zonnebril instead of de zonnebril?
You use the indefinite article een when you introduce something new or nonspecific (“a pair of sunglasses”). You’d use the definite article de only if you were referring to a specific, already-known pair of sunglasses.
What does zonnebril literally translate to?
It’s a compound of zon (“sun”) + bril (“glasses”), so it literally means “sun glasses,” i.e. “sunglasses.”
Why is het licht used here with het instead of de?
In Dutch, licht (“light”) is a neuter noun, so it takes the definite article het rather than de.
What does omdat do in this sentence, and how is it different from want?
omdat introduces a subordinate clause meaning “because,” and it sends the finite verb to the end of that clause.
want is a coordinating conjunction meaning “because,” but it keeps the normal (main‐clause) word order with the verb in second position.
Examples:
- Subordinate: Ik draag een zonnebril omdat het licht erg fel is.
- Coordinate: Ik draag een zonnebril, want het licht is erg fel.
Why is is at the end in the clause with omdat?
When a clause is introduced by a subordinating conjunction like omdat, Dutch uses verb‐final word order. That means subject + complements come first, and the finite verb appears at the end.
What do erg and fel mean, and why are they used together?
fel means “bright,” “intense,” or “harsh” (of light). erg is an adverb meaning “very” or “extremely,” which modifies fel. Together, erg fel means “very bright.”
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