Assimil Dutch4

249 tweehonderd negenenveertig

tweehonderd vi|ftig 250

Herhaling en opmerkingen

1.    — Past Participles — The prefix ge- is usually, but not always, added in the formation of a past participle. If the word already has one of the following prefixes, no addi-tional prefix is added: be-, ge-, her-, ont- or ver-. Ik heb niets begrepen: I have understood nothing. Waf heelt u gebruikt?: What have you used? Ik had hem niet her-kend: I hadn’t recognised him. Heefl u iemand ontmoet?: Have you met anyone? Ze hebben ons alles verteld: They have told us everything.

In the formation of the past participle of compound verbs the ge- is inserted between the separable part and the simple verb form. Ze zijn laat teruggekomen: They came back late. Waf hebben ze u aangeraden?: What have they recommended to you?

2.    — TE — In most cases the use of te before an infinitive is parallel to the use of "to” in English. It's impossible to answer: Het is niet mogelijk te antwoorden. I have nothing morę to say: Ik heb niets meer te zeggen.

This does not hołd true, however, before infinitives which : follow teren, helpen or blijven (continue to). I am teach-ing him to speak Dutch: Ik leer hem Nederlands spre-ken. I help her explain the text: Ik help haar de tekst verklaren. We continue to work: We blijven werken.

On the other hand, fe always precedes an infinitive which comes after the following verbs: denken, wensen, schij-nen, geloven or hopen. Usually, this corresponds with English usage, but not always. They think [they will] come tomorrow: Ze denken morgen te komen. She seems to have little time: Ze schijnt weinig tijd te hebben. I hope to be able to help you: Ik hoop u te kunnen helpen.

3. — Relative Pronouns — The relative pronoun not preceded by a preposition is usually die (dat only for neuter singular). Het is een stad die ik goed ken: lt's a

FIFTY-SIXTH LESSON

city that I know well. Het is een land dat erg duur is: lt's a country that’s very expensive. Het zijn huizen die heel hw ; oud zijn: They are houses which are very old.

After a preposition, wie is used instead of die. Kent u de mensen met wie ze gekomen zijn?: Do you know the people they came with? De baas voor wie ze werkt is altijd vriendelijk: The boss she works for is always friendly.

But when the antecedent is a thing. one uses waar plus a preposition. De reis waarover ze nu spreken, was heel mooi: The trip they are talking about now was very beautiful. Het boek waaraan ik denk, is nogal duur: The book l'm thinking about is rather expensive.

4. — Writing Letters — The datę is written: 4 januari 1999. The place may also be included: Rotterdam, 6 juli 1999. In formal letter the addressee is indicated at the top:

Aan de Heer Van der Meulen Vondelplein 17 Amsterdam, Nederland

Notice that the house number follows the name of the Street. The form of address for a married woman is, for example: Aan Mevrouw De Vos\ for an unmarried woman: Aan Mejuffrouw Janssens.

In a formal letter, the following salutations are used: Geachte Heer (De Vos), Geachte Mevrouw, Mijnheer de Directeur, Mijnheer de Minister. Ih a commercial letter. one sometimes sees Mijnheer or Mijne Heren. Tradition-ally, especially in Holland, various salutations are used depending on the rank and profession of the person addressed. Most Dutch dictionaries contain a catalogue of appropriate salutations for persons of various rank. In present-day Dutch it is becoming morę common to use such special salutations only for persons of high rank. The signature on a formal letter is usually preceded by Hoogachtend (with much respect).

Sesfe followed by the addressee's first name is the usual salutation in a personal letter. Met vriendelijke groeten (with friendly greetings) is a common closing at the end.