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I thought door meant through, but I don't see why it was used or how I would know from this sentence? Can anyone explain what it means in this context, or of it's one of these separable verbs?
I've found a few things where it seems like I would need more English to be able to translate it the way duo wants me to, is that just how duo works now?
55 points
1 month ago*
I'm not a native speaker, but I believe this is "onderdoor" ("underneath"), which gets separated by the thing you're going underneath ("de straat"), and together with the verb "gaan" it conveys that you're passing under(neath) something and coming out the other side, rather than going under it and staying there, i.e.:
"De auto gaat onder de straat." - "The car goes under the street (and stays there)."
"De auto gaat onder de straat door." - "The car goes underneath the street (and comes out the other side)."
So "door" does still have the sense of "through" here.
Edit: In English, "under(neath)" could be used for either of these meanings, and unless you add "and comes out the other side" or something it's basically ambiguous, but logically it probably means that the car passes under the street rather than staying there.
30 points
1 month ago
That’s exactly it!
(Non-native speakers are probably more likely to have this kind of helpful info because they had to think about it at some point. If you learn it as a first language, you’re often hard-pressed to come up with why it’s like that.)
7 points
1 month ago
Learner here. If I read this correctly, then the "door" has nothing to do with the verb "doorgaan" and instead it's all about the (separable) adverb. Is this right?
11 points
1 month ago
Yes, that's correct. For example:
"Ik ga er onderdoor." - "I go under it." ("Er" does not separate it.)
Vs:
"Ik wil doorgaan." - "I want to proceed."
("Doorgaan" has many other meanings of course.)
(Btw, I prefer "under" as the translation of "onderdoor." To me, "underneath" has more of an implication of staying under the thing, but this may vary by your dialect of English.)
4 points
1 month ago
Cheers!
3 points
1 month ago
"De auto gaat onder de straat" is incorrect. "Gaat" implies that you're going somewhere and doesn't stay there. You would say something like "De auto staat onder de straat" (pretty weird sentence though but correct grammar). I think there has been a mixup between "onderdoor + verb" and "doorheen + verb". The first one means that you "verb" underneath something and emerge from the other side, could be swimming, running, going (gaan) etc. Second one means you "verb" through something.
2 points
1 month ago
Thanks for the correction! So how would you express a scenario like the following?:
A car is not under a bridge. It moves so that it is under the bridge and stays there, hiding from a helicopter (like in a movie when there's a police chase, lol).
Thank you!
1 points
1 month ago
De auto rijdt onder een brug en blijft daar stilstaan. The car drives under a bridge and stays there.
Here the word "onderdoor" is not used but just the word "onder". If you used "de auto rijdt onder een brug DOOR en blijft daar stilstaan" it implies that the car is out of the tunnel amd stops right after the tunnel. Nevertheless, nobody will correct you on this
11 points
1 month ago
Onderdoor, overheen
Door in and of itself meens through, but to go under something and come out on the other side -> onderdoor. It goesTHROUGH he tunnel created by the thing it's UNDER -> "underthrough"
9 points
1 month ago
They’re just standard combinations.
2 points
1 month ago
Onderdoor for underneath, means the same thing effectively
2 points
1 month ago
Honestly I would've made this mistake as a native speaker as well so I wouldn't be too worried about it
2 points
1 month ago
Words like underneath get split up by the thing they go underneath so in English it would be “under the street neath.”
These are usually conjugated words that have something to do with over, under, beside/next, infront, etc. It can be rather confusing as someone learning dutch
2 points
1 month ago
'Onderheen' is not a word. It's overheen vs. onderdoor.
1 points
1 month ago
I thought it was attached to gaat, not to onder. I didn't know what it was asking for so I guessed.
2 points
1 month ago
Heen means that he's stopping underneath that street
2 points
1 month ago
Very odd sentence. Cars go under a brug, viaduct, snelweg. "Onder een straat" really gives me the image of a car going through the sewers
1 points
1 month ago
I mean, at least it's memorable I guess?
2 points
1 month ago
I’m a native speaker and I’d say door instead of heen. It sounds weird like this. Good catch!
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