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Questions & Answers about De reden blijft onbekend.
In the sentence De reden blijft onbekend, what does De indicate?
De is the definite article for singular common-gender nouns in Dutch. It corresponds to the in English. Most Dutch nouns take de, while a smaller set of neuter nouns takes het.
Why is it de and not het before reden?
Dutch nouns are divided into two grammatical genders: common (de-words) and neuter (het-words). Reden is a common-gender noun, so it always uses de. There’s no reliable rule to predict gender—you simply learn which nouns are de-words and which are het-words.
What does reden mean, and what part of speech is it?
Reden is a noun meaning reason (or sometimes cause). It’s singular here; its plural would be redenen (reasons).
What is blijft, and why does it end in -t?
Blijft is the third-person singular present tense of the verb blijven (to remain/stay). In Dutch, most verbs add -t for the hij/zij/het (he/she/it) form in the present tense:
• ik blijf (I remain)
• jij blijft (you remain)
• hij/zij/het blijft (he/she/it remains)
What does onbekend mean, and how is it formed?
Onbekend is an adjective meaning unknown. It’s built from the prefix on- (not) plus bekend (known). Here it functions as a predicate adjective: the sentence says that the reason “remains unknown.”
Could I also say De reden is onbekend instead of De reden blijft onbekend?
Yes, De reden is onbekend (The reason is unknown) is grammatically correct. The difference is nuance:
- is onbekend simply states the current fact that the reason is unknown.
- blijft onbekend emphasizes that it still remains unknown over time.
Why isn’t reden capitalized like German nouns?
In Dutch, only proper names and the first word of a sentence are capitalized. Common nouns like reden stay lowercase, so you write De reden blijft onbekend, not De Reden….