Breakdown of ’s Avonds opende hij de spaarpot weer uit nieuwsgierigheid.
hij
he
weer
again
openen
to open
uit
out of
’s avonds
in the evening
de spaarpot
the piggy bank
de nieuwsgierigheid
the curiosity
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Questions & Answers about ’s Avonds opende hij de spaarpot weer uit nieuwsgierigheid.
Why is there an apostrophe at the beginning of ’s Avonds?
’s is a contraction of the old genitive des (so originally des avonds). In modern Dutch it’s a fixed expression meaning “in the evening.” You see the same pattern in ’s ochtends (in the mornings) and ’s nachts (at night).
Why does the verb opende come before the subject hij?
When a sentence begins with an adverbial element (here ’s Avonds), Dutch uses inversion: the verb goes first, then the subject, then the object. So we get ’s Avonds – opende – hij – de spaarpot…
How do you form the past tense of openen, and why is it opende instead of opente?
Dutch regular verbs follow the ’t kofschip rule. You take the stem open, look at its final letter (n). Since n is not one of the consonants in ’t kofschip (t, k, f, s, ch, p), you add -de (not -te). Hence open + de = opende.
What does weer mean in …opende hij de spaarpot weer…?
Here weer means “again.” It indicates he had opened the piggy bank before and did it once more.
What is de spaarpot?
Spaarpot literally means “savings pot” or “piggy bank.” It’s a de-word (common gender), so you use de.
Why is uit nieuwsgierigheid used, and what does it mean?
Uit nieuwsgierigheid translates to “out of curiosity.” Dutch often uses uit + noun to express motive: uit interesse (out of interest), uit gewoonte (out of habit).
Why is there no article before nieuwsgierigheid?
Abstract nouns used to express motive (like nieuwsgierigheid) typically appear without an article in constructions with uit. It’s a general quality, not a specific “curiosity” instance.