Breakdown of Blijkbaar heb ik gisteren te weinig water gedronken.
ik
I
hebben
to have
drinken
to drink
het water
the water
gisteren
yesterday
blijkbaar
apparently
te weinig
too little
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Questions & Answers about Blijkbaar heb ik gisteren te weinig water gedronken.
What does blijkbaar mean in this sentence?
Blijkbaar translates as “apparently” or “it seems that.” You use it when you draw a conclusion from evidence or signs rather than from direct knowledge.
Why is the verb heb in second position rather than immediately after the subject?
Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule: the finite verb must occupy the second slot. Here blijkbaar is your first slot, so heb comes next, pushing the subject ik into third position.
Why does ik come after heb?
Because you’ve fronted blijkbaar as the first element. In Dutch, when anything other than the subject comes first, the finite verb stays in second place and the subject follows it.
What does te weinig mean, and how is it different from weinig?
Te weinig means “too little” or “not enough,” stressing insufficiency. Weinig alone just means “little” or “not much” without necessarily implying it was insufficient for your needs.
Why is gedronken placed at the end of the sentence?
In perfect tenses, Dutch uses an auxiliary (here heb) in second position and moves the past participle (here gedronken) to the end of the clause.
Why is the past participle gedronken and not gedronkt?
Drinken is a strong (irregular) verb. Its past participle is formed with the ge- prefix plus a stem vowel change and -en ending: drinken → gedronken.
Can I use niet genoeg instead of te weinig?
Yes. You can say Blijkbaar heb ik gisteren niet genoeg water gedronken. Both mean “I didn’t drink enough water yesterday,” but niet genoeg uses negation + “enough” rather than “too little.”
Why is gisteren placed between ik and te weinig water?
Time adverbs like gisteren typically occupy the “midfield” in Dutch: after the finite verb and subject but before objects or other modifiers (here te weinig water).