Managing to Do Something
Normally, the verb weten means "to know" (a fact). However, when you combine it with te and an infinitive, weten te means "to manage to" or "to succeed in" doing something. It is perfect for describing difficult achievements, like tracking elusive wildlife.
Sentence Structure
In these sentences, weten is the conjugated verb. Because achievements often happen in the past, you will frequently see it in the simple past tense (wist for singular, wisten for plural). The action you managed to complete goes at the very end of the clause as te + infinitive.
If the infinitive is a separable verb, remember that the te squeezes between the prefix and the base verb (for example, vastleggen becomes vast te leggen).
Emphasizing with Het was ... die
To emphasize exactly who or what achieved a difficult task, you can use a sentence structure starting with Het was (It was), followed by the noun, and then die (who/that).
Because die introduces a relative clause, all verbs in that clause are sent to the end of the sentence.
Expressing "-ever" with dan ook
To express "anyone at all" or "anyone whatsoever," Dutch uses the phrase wie dan ook. Similarly, "anything whatsoever" is wat dan ook. These phrases emphasize that absolutely no exceptions apply.
