Zwelling is a noun meaning swelling.
It comes from the verb zwellen, which means to swell.
So the relationship is:
This is similar to English pairs like:
Bleef is the simple past singular of blijven.
Forms of blijven:
In this sentence, bleef means remained or stayed:
Dutch blijven often works like English remain when it is followed by an adjective.
Pattern:
Examples:
So in this sentence, bleef describes a continuing state, not physical staying in a place.
Because they come after the verb and describe the subject, not directly the noun.
This is called a predicative adjective. In Dutch, predicative adjectives usually do not take the -e ending.
Compare:
Attributive adjective: directly before the noun
Predicative adjective: after a verb like zijn, worden, blijven
So:
This is normal Dutch main-clause word order:
subject + finite verb + rest
So:
This is very common in Dutch:
If you changed the order for emphasis, the verb would still stay in second position in a main clause:
Yes, you can say that, but the meaning is slightly different.
De zwelling was rood en pijnlijk.
This simply states that the swelling was red and painful.
De zwelling bleef rood en pijnlijk.
This suggests that the swelling continued to be red and painful, often despite time passing or despite expectation that it might improve.
So bleef adds the idea of persistence or lack of change.
Yes. Rood and pijnlijk are two coordinated adjectives joined by en.
Both describe de zwelling:
Dutch often does this exactly like English:
Approximate pronunciation:
zwelling: roughly ZVEL-ling
The zw at the start can be tricky for English speakers. The w is Dutch, not quite like English w.
bleef: roughly blayf
The ee sounds like the vowel in English day, but without the English glide being too strong.
pijnlijk: roughly PIHN-lək
The first part pijn sounds somewhat like pine. The final -lijk is often reduced in everyday speech.
A careful learner tip:
Usually yes, but the exact English translation depends on context.
Pijnlijk can mean:
Examples:
In your sentence, because it is about de zwelling, the physical meaning is clearly intended.
Yes:
That means:
Compare:
So the tense changes, but the structure stays the same.