Binnen één seconde was het scherm leeg.

to be

Breakdown of Binnen één seconde was het scherm leeg.

• één: one
• leeg: empty
• het scherm: the screen

Questions & Answers about Binnen één seconde was het scherm leeg.

What does binnen mean in this sentence?

Here binnen means within.

So Binnen één seconde means within one second. It gives a time limit: the result happened before one second had passed.

This is different from a literal physical meaning of binnen, which can also mean inside in other contexts.

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Why is it één with accents instead of just een?

Dutch uses één with accents when it clearly means the number one.

• een = a / an
• één = one

So:

• binnen een seconde can still be understood, but may look more neutral
• binnen één seconde emphasizes the number: within one single second

The accents help prevent confusion and often add emphasis.

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Why is it seconde and not seconden?

Because after één, Dutch normally uses the singular noun.

• één seconde = one second
• twee seconden = two seconds

So the singular seconde is correct here.

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