De andere huisgenoot vraagt of de muziek nog zachter kan, omdat zij snel is afgeleid.

The other housemate asks if the music can be even softer, because she is easily distracted.

Breakdown of De andere huisgenoot vraagt of de muziek nog zachter kan, omdat zij snel is afgeleid.

• zijn: to be
• zij: she
• de muziek: the music
• nog: still
• kunnen: can
• snel: quickly
• omdat: because
• ander: other
• zacht: soft
• vragen: to ask
• of: if
• de huisgenoot: the housemate
• afgeleid: distracted

Questions & Answers about De andere huisgenoot vraagt of de muziek nog zachter kan, omdat zij snel is afgeleid.

In de andere huisgenoot, why is it de and not een?

De means “the”, een means “a / an”.

• De andere huisgenoot = “the other housemate” → we are talking about a specific, known person in a small set (e.g. you have two or three housemates, and this is “the other one”).
• Een andere huisgenoot = “another housemate / some other housemate” → some unspecified person, not clearly identified yet.

So de is used because the speaker assumes the listener knows which housemate they mean (from context).

Why is it de andere huisgenoot and not het andere huisgenoot?

In Dutch, huisgenoot is a de‑word (common gender), not a het‑word (neuter).
You just have to learn the gender with the noun:

• de huisgenoot = the housemate (common gender)
• not: het huisgenoot

So the correct phrase is de andere huisgenoot (“the other housemate”).

In vraagt of de muziek nog zachter kan, why does kan come at the very end?

Of de muziek nog zachter kan is a subordinate clause introduced by of (“if / whether”).

In Dutch:

• In a main clause: the conjugated verb is in 2nd position.
  
  • De andere huisgenoot vraagt … → vraagt is 2nd.
• In a subordinate clause (introduced by omdat, omdat, of, dat, etc.): the conjugated verb goes to the end.
  • … of de muziek nog zachter kan → kan is the conjugated verb, so it goes to the end of that clause.

So the word order is:

• of (subordinator)
• de muziek (subject)
• nog zachter (adverb + comparative)
• kan (conjugated verb at the end)

Why is of used here and not als? In English we say “asks if the music can be softer”.

Dutch distinguishes two words that both translate to English “if”:

• of = whether / if in yes/no questions and indirect questions
  • Hij vraagt of de muziek zachter kan.
    “He asks if / whether the music can be softer.”
• als = if in conditions (“if X, then Y”)
  • Als de muziek zachter is, kan ik me beter concentreren.
    “If the music is softer, I can concentrate better.”

In your sentence, it’s an indirect yes/no question (“Can the music be softer?”), so you must use of, not als.

What exactly does nog mean in nog zachter? Is it “still” or “even”?

In nog zachter, nog means roughly “even” or “(any) more”, not “still”.

• zachter = softer
• nog zachter = even softer, softer still, any softer

Some examples:

• Kan het nog zachter? → “Can it be any softer?”
• Het is al zacht, maar hij wil het nog zachter.
  “It’s already quiet, but he wants it even quieter.”

So here nog is an intensifier with a comparative, not the time meaning “still”.

Why is it zachter and not something like meer zacht?

Dutch normally forms comparatives of adjectives with ‑er, not with meer:

• zacht → zachter (soft → softer)
• hard → harder (loud / hard → louder / harder)
• mooi → mooier (pretty → prettier)

You use meer + adjective mainly with some longer adjectives or when the ‑er form doesn’t work well, e.g.:

• meer interessant is sometimes heard, but interessanter is more standard.
• meer comfortabel (more comfortable) – the ‑er form is awkward.

For zacht, the normal comparative is simply zachter, so meer zacht is not idiomatic.

In omdat zij snel is afgeleid, why is it omdat and not want?

Both omdat and want can translate as “because”, but they behave differently:

• omdat introduces a subordinate clause → verb goes to the end:
  • De andere huisgenoot vraagt …, omdat zij snel is afgeleid.
• want is a coordinating conjunction → the following clause keeps normal main‑clause word order (verb in 2nd position):
  • De andere huisgenoot vraagt …, want zij is snel afgeleid.

Meaning:

• omdat often focuses more on the reason / cause itself.
• want sounds a bit more like an explanatory afterthought in speech.

Both would be grammatical here; the sentence just happens to use omdat.

Why is the word order omdat zij snel is afgeleid and not something like omdat zij is snel afgeleid?

Again, this is about subordinate clause word order.

Without omdat, it’s a main clause:

• Zij is snel afgeleid.
  (subject zij, verb is in 2nd position)

With omdat, it becomes a subordinate clause, and all verbs move to the end:

• omdat zij snel is afgeleid

So the structure is:

• omdat (subordinator)
• zij (subject)
• snel (adverb)
• is afgeleid (verb cluster at the end)

Zij is snel afgeleid is fine as a main sentence, but after omdat you must use subordinate word order, so omdat zij snel is afgeleid is correct; omdat zij is snel afgeleid is wrong.

Is omdat zij snel is afgeleid the only correct order? What about omdat zij snel afgeleid is?

Both orders are used in Dutch subordinate clauses with an auxiliary + past participle:

• omdat zij snel is afgeleid
• omdat zij snel afgeleid is

In modern standard Dutch, both are generally accepted, and many speakers alternate without noticing.

Some style guides slightly prefer auxiliary + participle:

• is afgeleid, heeft gedaan, kan komen

But you will definitely hear and read afgeleid is, gedaan heeft, etc., especially in the Netherlands. So:

• Your sentence with is afgeleid is perfectly standard.
• … omdat zij snel afgeleid is would also sound natural to native speakers.

Why is zij used for de andere huisgenoot? Is huisgenoot a feminine word?

No, huisgenoot is not grammatically feminine; it’s a common‑gender noun (de huisgenoot). It can refer to a person of any gender.

Here, zij (“she”) reflects the natural gender of the person:

• If the housemate is female → zij
• If the housemate is male → hij
• If the gender is unknown or irrelevant, speakers might still pick hij by default, but modern speakers often choose based on the real person.

So zij here simply tells you that this particular huisgenoot is a woman.

What is the difference between zij and ze?

Both zij and ze can mean “she” or “they”. The difference is mainly about stress and formality:

• zij = the strong, stressed form
  
  • Used when you want to emphasize the pronoun or in more careful / formal speech.
  • Zij is snel afgeleid, niet hij.
    “She is easily distracted, not him.”
• ze = the weak, unstressed form
  
  • Used in normal, neutral spoken Dutch when there is no special emphasis.
  • Ze is snel afgeleid.
    “She is easily distracted.”

In your sentence, zij is fine, especially in written or more careful language. Many speakers would say omdat ze snel is afgeleid in everyday conversation.

What kind of word is afgeleid here, and why is it used with is?

Afgeleid is the past participle of the verb afleiden (“to distract”).

In this sentence, it functions like an adjectival past participle describing a state:

• is afgeleid ≈ “is distracted”

Comparing:

• Zij is afgeleid. → She is distracted (state/result)
• Zij wordt afgeleid. → She is being distracted (ongoing action, process)

So is afgeleid describes what she is like (her condition), not the process of someone distracting her at that moment.

Why is it de muziek and not just muziek, when English usually says “turn the music down” with or without “the”?

Dutch tends to use a definite article with many nouns where English might omit it:

• de muziek = “the music”
• muziek (without article) is possible, but has a more general / abstract feel (“music” as a concept or as an activity: Muziek is belangrijk. – “Music is important.”)

In your sentence, de muziek clearly refers to the specific music that is playing right now, so de is natural:

• Kan de muziek nog zachter?
  “Can the music be even softer?”

Using muziek without de would sound odd here, because you’re not talking about music in general but about a concrete instance of it.