Breakdown of Dit resultaat is vergelijkbaar met wat we vorig jaar zagen.
zijn
to be
wij
we
met
with
zien
to see
dit
this
het resultaat
the result
wat
what
vorig jaar
last year
vergelijkbaar
comparable
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Questions & Answers about Dit resultaat is vergelijkbaar met wat we vorig jaar zagen.
Why do we say dit resultaat instead of deze resultaat?
In Dutch, resultaat is a neuter noun (an “het-woord”). Neuter nouns take dit (and dat) as demonstratives, whereas common (“de-woorden”) take deze (and die). So you must use dit resultaat.
What part of speech is vergelijkbaar and how is it related to vergelijken?
Vergelijkbaar is an adjective meaning “comparable.” It is formed from the verb vergelijken (“to compare”) plus the adjectival suffix -baar. It is not a past participle but a standalone adjective.
Why is the preposition met used in vergelijkbaar met?
The adjective vergelijkbaar requires the preposition met to link it to the thing you compare with. Literally, vergelijkbaar met = “comparable with/to.” You always say vergelijkbaar met iets, never vergelijkbaar van or vergelijkbaar op.
What’s the function of wat in wat we vorig jaar zagen?
Here wat is a relative pronoun introducing a free relative clause meaning “what” or “that which.” The whole clause wat we vorig jaar zagen translates as “what we saw last year.”
Why is the verb zagen at the end of wat we vorig jaar zagen instead of right after we?
Because wat we vorig jaar zagen is a subordinate clause (introduced by the relative pronoun wat), Dutch uses verb-final word order in subordinate clauses. The finite verb zagen must go to the end (Subject–Object–Verb).
Why is zagen in the simple past rather than a perfect tense like hebben gezien?
Dutch often uses the simple past for events that happened at a definite time in the past (“last year”). Since you mention vorig jaar (a clear time frame), the simple past zagen is the natural choice.
Why is vorig jaar written as two words instead of one?
In Dutch, adjectives (like vorig, “last”) precede nouns (like jaar, “year”), and you keep them as separate words. Compound nouns are different (e.g. jaarmarkt), but adjective + noun remains two words.