• Dutch
  • Frisian
  • Saterfrisian
  • Afrikaans
Show all
The content noun
quickinfo

The Noun Phrase (NP) following the preposition can be modified by adjectives in the partitive question construction, but it cannot be modified by other elements, such as quantifiers. The content noun determines agreement on the verb.

readmore

The following sentence illustrates that the content NP in a partitive question can be premodified by adjectives:

1
Wat foar spannende boeken hasto kocht?
what for thrilling books have.2SG bought
What thrilling books did you buy?

In a question, the content noun cannot be modified by the indefinite article in the plural:

2
*Wat foar in spannende boeken hasto kocht?
what for a thrilling books have.2SG bought
What thrilling books did you buy?

However, in an exclamative, the content noun can be modified by the indefinite article in the plural:

3
Wat in spannende boeken hasto kocht!
what a thrilling books have.2SG bought
What thrilling books have you bought!

The article tends to be present in case a negative judgment on the part of the speaker is involved, as in the following example:

4
Ba, wat foar in fint bisto?
yuck what for a man be.2SG
Yuck, what kind of man are you?

The content noun cannot be modified by existential quantifiers (nor can it be in English):

5
*Wat foar guon spannende boeken hasto kocht?
what for some thrilling books have.2SG bought
What kind of some thrilling books have you bought?

The content noun determines agreement on the verb, as the pair of sentences below illustrates:

6
a. Wat foar boek lei dêr?
what for book.SG lay.SG there
What kind of book was lying there?
b. Wat foar boeken leinen dêr?
what for book.PL lay.PL there
What kind of books were lying there?
References
    printreport errorcite