Grammatica - loco

Chapter 13
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Prepositions
Voorzetsels/preposities
12111 Because prepositions are the most idiomatic part of speech, each with a
3 vast number of meanings in many cases, the following list can only serve
4 as a guide to the usage of Dutch prepositions. To have listed English
5 prepositions with their various translations into Dutch would have been
6 unwieldy and the learner would have been prevented from getting a feeling
7 for the nuances of Dutch prepositions. By doing the reverse it is hoped a
8 certain pattern in the usage of individual Dutch prepositions will emerge
9 and facilitate the learning of them. It should be noted that several are
20111 often used as adverbs too, e.g. De soep is op ‘The soup is finished’, Hij
1 is boven ‘He is upstairs’ (see 10.4). Only the most usual of meanings of
2 each preposition in English are given next to the Dutch form at the beginning
3 of each entry (e.g. achter ‘behind, after’) although in reality they may be
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rendered in a myriad of ways in English.
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à ‘to, at’
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drie à vier weken (also tot)
à vijf percent
three to four weeks
at five percent
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à €10,00 per stuk at ten euros each
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aan ‘on, at’
5 This preposition is often confused by English speakers with op. In so far
6 as its meaning can be defined at all, one can say that a vertical ‘on’ is
7 rendered by aan (but a horizontal ‘on’ is rendered by op) and ‘on’ or ‘at’
8 the edge of things is also aan:
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40 het schilderij aan de muur the picture on the wall
41111 aan het plafond on the ceiling
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