I am always confused by the use of perfect tense/ or sometimes an adjective in dutch, as it is not 100 percent clear to me.
For example, in the sentence:
Het restaurant was gesloten
Is it a pluperfect or is “gesloten” simply an adjective here?
perfect or adjective
-
- Lid
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2022 9:25 am
- Mother tongue: Mandarin
- Second language: English
- Third language: Italian
- Fourth language: German
- LeSNT2
- Superlid
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 5:28 pm
- Country of residence: Netherlands
- Mother tongue: Dutch (Netherlands)
- Second language: English
- Gender: Female
- Contact:
Re: perfect or adjective
In this case it's the plusperfect or 'plusquamperfectum' (that's how I know it). I understand your confusion because 'gesloten' can also be an adjective. How do you know the difference?
Het restaurant was gesloten. = two verbs. If you only write 'het restaurant was' it doesn't mean anything.
Het gesloten restaurant was heel mooi. = one verb and 'gesloten' is an adjective. If you only write 'het restaurant was heel mooi' it does mean something.
That's the easiest way to understand the difference.
Het restaurant was gesloten. = two verbs. If you only write 'het restaurant was' it doesn't mean anything.
Het gesloten restaurant was heel mooi. = one verb and 'gesloten' is an adjective. If you only write 'het restaurant was heel mooi' it does mean something.
That's the easiest way to understand the difference.
English isn't my first/best language. So in advance: Sorry for any mistakes!