Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend tijdens het onweer.

His voice sounds reassuring during the thunderstorm.

Breakdown of Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend tijdens het onweer.

• zijn: his
• tijdens: during
• de stem: the voice
• klinken: to sound
• het onweer: the thunderstorm
• geruststellend: reassuringly

Questions & Answers about Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend tijdens het onweer.

What exactly does klinkt mean here, and why not just use is?

Klinken literally means to sound (to produce a sound, or to sound in a certain way).

In Dutch, for things related to sound, you usually use klinken, not zijn:

• Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend.
  = His voice sounds reassuring.

Using zijn here (Zijn stem is geruststellend) is grammatically possible, but it sounds more like a general, permanent quality. Klinkt focuses on how his voice sounds at that moment (or in that situation), which fits better with tijdens het onweer.

Is geruststellend an adjective or an adverb here?

Formally, geruststellend is a present participle used as an adjective. In this sentence it is a predicative adjective that describes stem:

• Zijn stem (subject)
• klinkt (verb)
• geruststellend (adjective, saying what the voice is like)

English would often use an adverb here (sounds reassuringly), but Dutch usually keeps an adjective after verbs like:

• klinken (to sound)
• lijken (to seem)
• voelen (to feel)
• ruiken (to smell)
• smaken (to taste)

So:

• De soep ruikt lekker. (not lekkerly)
• Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend.

How is geruststellend formed, and what does it literally suggest?

Geruststellend comes from the verb geruststellen:

• gerust = at ease, reassured
• stellen = to put, to set
• geruststellen = to reassure (literally: to put at ease)

Add -end to the verb stem for the participle:

• geruststellen → geruststellend

So geruststellend literally means reassuring, having a calming, comforting effect.

Why is it tijdens het onweer and not something like terwijl het onweer is?

Tijdens is a preposition that means during and must be followed by a noun phrase, not a full clause:

• tijdens het onweer = during the thunderstorm (noun phrase)
• tijdens de les = during the lesson

If you want a full clause, you use terwijl:

• Terwijl het onweert, klinkt zijn stem geruststellend.
  (= While it is thundering, his voice sounds reassuring.)

So:

• tijdens + noun
• terwijl + full clause

Why is it het onweer and not de onweer?

Dutch has two grammatical genders for nouns that take an article:

• de-words
• het-words

Onweer (thunderstorm, thunder and lightning) is a het-word, so the correct definite article is het:

• het onweer = the thunderstorm

There is no rule you can always apply here; you generally have to learn the gender with the noun:

• de storm (the storm)
• het onweer (the thunderstorm)

Can I change the word order and say Tijdens het onweer klinkt zijn stem geruststellend?

Yes, that is perfectly correct Dutch.

Both are fine:

• Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend tijdens het onweer.
• Tijdens het onweer klinkt zijn stem geruststellend.

The difference is only in emphasis:

• Starting with Zijn stem: focus on his voice and what it is like.
• Starting with Tijdens het onweer: focus first on the situation; then you say how his voice sounds in that situation.

What is the difference between stem and something like stemgeluid? Why use stem?

Stem is the normal word for voice. It already includes the idea of sound, so stemgeluid (literally voice sound) is usually unnecessary and can sound odd in everyday language.

Examples:

• Hij heeft een zachte stem.
• Haar stem klinkt boos.

You use stem for:

• the physical sound of a person speaking
• the characteristic quality of that sound

So Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend is the natural way to say His voice sounds reassuring.

What exactly does tijdens mean, and how is it different from in or bij?

Tijdens means during, focusing on time:

• tijdens het onweer = during the thunderstorm
• tijdens de vakantie = during the holiday

Comparison:

• in het onweer – more about being physically in the thunderstorm (outside in it), feels unusual here with stem klinken.
• bij onweer – literally at/when there is thunderstorm, often used for general rules or habits:
  
  • Bij onweer moet je binnen blijven.

For this sentence, tijdens het onweer is the most natural, because it tells you when his voice sounds that way.

Can I say Zijn geruststellende stem klinkt ... instead? How does that change the meaning?

You can say:

• Zijn geruststellende stem klinkt zacht tijdens het onweer.

Here geruststellende is an attributive adjective directly in front of stem:

• geruststellende stem = reassuring voice (as a general quality of his voice)

In the original sentence:

• Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend tijdens het onweer.

Geruststellend is a predicative complement, telling you how his voice sounds in that situation. The focus is more on the effect of his voice during the storm, not on his voice being generally reassuring all the time.

Why is the verb klinkt in the simple present in Dutch, when English would often say is sounding?

Dutch uses the simple present much more often than English, even for actions that are going on right now.

So:

• Zijn stem klinkt geruststellend tijdens het onweer.
  corresponds to
  
  • His voice sounds reassuring during the thunderstorm.
    or
  • His voice is sounding reassuring during the thunderstorm.

Dutch only uses a progressive form (is aan het ...) in limited cases and it would sound strange here. The normal form is simply klinkt.

How would I add something like very or always to this sentence, and where would it go?

Some natural options:

• Zijn stem klinkt heel geruststellend tijdens het onweer.
  (very reassuring)

• Zijn stem klinkt altijd geruststellend tijdens het onweer.
  (always reassuring during storms)

You can also combine them:

• Tijdens het onweer klinkt zijn stem altijd heel geruststellend.

Typical order for these elements:

1. Frequency: altijd, vaak
2. Degree: heel, erg, vrij
3. Adjective: geruststellend
4. Time phrase if moved: tijdens het onweer

So: klinkt altijd heel geruststellend tijdens het onweer is natural and clear.