Breakdown of Elke sneeuwbal wordt groter als je hem door de sneeuw rolt.
groot
big
hem
him
elke
every
je
you
als
when
worden
to become
door
through
de sneeuw
the snow
de sneeuwbal
the snowball
rollen
to roll
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Questions & Answers about Elke sneeuwbal wordt groter als je hem door de sneeuw rolt.
What does Elke mean and when do you use it vs Iedere?
Elke means each or every and goes before singular nouns.
- Use elke especially when followed by a numeral (e.g., elke twee weken).
- Iedere also means every, but it’s less common before numerals and slightly more formal. In most other contexts they’re interchangeable.
What is wordt in this sentence?
Wordt is the third-person singular present tense of worden, which here means to become or to get. So wordt groter literally means becomes or gets bigger.
Why use wordt groter instead of is groter?
Is groter states a static fact (the snowball is bigger). Wordt groter emphasizes the process: the snowball becomes or gets bigger as you roll it.
What does groter represent?
Groter is the comparative form of groot (big). Just like English big → bigger, Dutch groot → groter.
Why doesn’t the sentence use groter dan with dan, like in comparisons?
You use dan in a phrase like groter dan die steen (bigger than that stone). Here groter isn’t comparing two nouns directly; it’s followed by a clause introduced by als (when/if), so no dan is required.
What role does als play here? Could you replace it with wanneer or zodra?
Als is a subordinating conjunction meaning when or if, introducing a time/condition clause. You could also say wanneer je hem door de sneeuw rolt (when you roll it through the snow) or zodra je hem … (as soon as you …), but als is the most neutral choice for a general condition.
Why is rolt at the end of the clause als je hem door de sneeuw rolt?
In Dutch subordinate clauses (led by als, omdat, hoewel, etc.), the finite verb moves to the very end. That’s why rolt appears after the object and prepositional phrase.
Why is the pronoun hem used for sneeuwbal? Could you use het?
Sneeuwbal is a de-word (common gender), so the correct object pronoun is hem. You’d only use het for a het-word (neuter noun).
What does door indicate in door de sneeuw rolt?
Here door means through or across, describing movement. You roll the snowball through the snow, picking up more as you go.