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Breakdown of De vuilniszak is zwaar, omdat er veel glazen flessen in zitten.
zijn
to be
in
in
omdat
because
er
there
zitten
to sit
veel
many
zwaar
heavy
de fles
the bottle
de vuilniszak
the garbage bag
glazen
glass
Questions & Answers about De vuilniszak is zwaar, omdat er veel glazen flessen in zitten.
What does the compound noun vuilniszak mean literally and as a whole?
Literally it’s vuilnis (“garbage, rubbish”) + zak (“bag”), so together vuilniszak = “trash bag” or “garbage bag.”
Why is the adjective zwaar not zware in De vuilniszak is zwaar?
After a linking verb like zijn (to be), the adjective is in predicate position and remains uninflected: you say is zwaar, not is zware. Only attributive adjectives before a noun (e.g. een zware zak) take an -e when needed.
Why is the verb zitten at the end of the subordinate clause omdat er veel glazen flessen in zitten?
In Dutch, subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like omdat follow the Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) order, pushing the conjugated verb to the very end.
What is the function of er in omdat er veel glazen flessen in zitten?
Here er is an expletive or placeholder pronoun often used with verbs of existence or location (like zitten, staan, liggen) to introduce “there is/are…” in English: “because there are many glass bottles in it.”
Could you use er zijn instead of er zitten?
Yes. Er zijn veel glazen flessen in also means “there are many glass bottles in (it).” The difference is subtle: zitten emphasizes the idea of things “sitting/lying” inside, while zijn is more general “to be.”
Why is there no article before glazen flessen? (Why not de glazen flessen or veel de glazen flessen?)
Because glazen flessen is an indefinite, uncounted plural after veel (“many”). In Dutch you drop the article when you speak about an unspecified number of plural objects: veel glazen flessen = “many glass bottles.”
What’s the difference between using omdat and want here?
Both mean “because,” but omdat introduces a subordinate clause and requires the verb-at-end order, whereas want is a coordinating conjunction that keeps the normal main-clause word order:
– Omdat er veel flessen in zitten, is de zak zwaar.
– De zak is zwaar, want er zitten veel flessen in.
More from this lesson
de stoepIk sta op de stoep en wacht op mijn vriend.De kinderen spelen niet op de weg maar op de stoep.de rommelEr ligt veel rommel in mijn kamer, dus ik moet opruimen.Toen ik thuiskwam, zag ik dat de keuken vol rommel lag.de vuilniszakIk doe de rommel in een grote vuilniszak en breng die naar buiten.
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