Breakdown of Anna ziet vooruitgang in haar onderzoek.
Anna
Anna
in
in
zien
to see
het onderzoek
the research
haar
her
de vooruitgang
the progress
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Questions & Answers about Anna ziet vooruitgang in haar onderzoek.
Why is vooruitgang not preceded by an article in this sentence?
Vooruitgang is an abstract, uncountable noun when used in the sense of “progress.” In Dutch, uncountable nouns typically appear without an article. If you wanted to talk about a specific or defined progress, you could add de, as in de vooruitgang.
Why is the preposition in used before haar onderzoek instead of something like aan or voor?
Here in haar onderzoek means “within her research.”
- in onderzoek indicates something happening inside or during the course of that research.
- By contrast, aan onderzoek doen means “to do research,” and voor onderzoek means “for research” (e.g. funding).
Why is haar placed directly before onderzoek with no article?
In Dutch a possessive pronoun (mijn, jouw, haar, ons, etc.) replaces the need for an article. You simply say haar onderzoek (“her research”) rather than het haar onderzoek or haar het onderzoek.
What word order rule is illustrated by Anna ziet vooruitgang in haar onderzoek?
This is a main clause following the Dutch V2 rule:
- Anna (Subject, position 1)
- ziet (Finite verb, position 2)
- vooruitgang (Object)
- in haar onderzoek (Prepositional phrase/adverbial)
Why is the verb ziet used here instead of bekijkt or kijkt?
- zien (ziet) literally means “to see” and is used figuratively here (“to perceive, notice”).
- kijken (kijkt) means “to look” (focus on the act of looking).
- bekijken means “to examine” or “to look at carefully.”
Since Anna is observing that progress exists rather than literally examining each detail, ziet is most natural.
Why is vooruitgang singular rather than plural?
As a mass/abstract noun, vooruitgang does not have a plural form. You cannot count “one progress, two progresses”; instead you treat it as a singular concept.
Why isn’t vooruitgang capitalized in Dutch?
In Dutch only proper nouns (names of people, places, organizations) and the first word of a sentence are capitalized. Common nouns like vooruitgang remain lowercase.
Could you also say Anna maakt vooruitgang in haar onderzoek? What’s the difference?
Yes, vooruitgang maken is an idiom meaning “to make progress.”
- Anna maakt vooruitgang… focuses on her action of progressing.
- Anna ziet vooruitgang… emphasizes that she notices or observes that progress is happening. Both are correct but highlight different perspectives.