Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Making Subjective Claims with "menen te"

When you want to describe what someone firmly—and perhaps falsely—claims to be true, you can use the verb **menen**. In this context, it functions much like the English phrase "claims to" or "believes to."

To build these sentences, conjugate **menen** for the subject, and place **te** + the infinitive verb at the very end of the clause. The subject of *menen* is also the implied subject of the infinitive action.

{{item:826936}}

{{item:826940}}

### Dealing with Unfounded Claims

This structure is especially useful when pointing out arrogant behavior, unsubstantiated statements, or a self-proclaimed sense of superiority. Notice how the infinitive phrase with **te** clusters at the end of the first clause, often right before a coordinating conjunction like **maar** (but) introduces the reality of the situation.

{{item:826946}}

{{item:826952}}

### Past Actions and Authorities

If a person is claiming to have *already* done something in the past, you can use a perfect infinitive. Just like in English ("claims to have discovered"), place the past participle before **te hebben** (or **te zijn**) at the end of the sentence.

{{item:826960}}

Whether dealing with a self-appointed authority or a stubborn know-it-all, this structure clearly marks their statements as subjective, allowing you to gracefully question their proof!

{{item:826963}}

Subjective claims (menen te ...)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

determiner/pronoun

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular pronouns and 'to be' (ik ben, hij is)

The formal 'you' (u bent)

Definite articles (de, het)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (wij zijn)

The verb 'to have' (hebben)

Basic word order

Numbers 1 to 10 (een, twee, drie)

Verb stems and the 'I' form (ik werk)

Long vowels in verb stems (maken, ik maak)

Short vowels in verb stems (zitten, ik zit)

Present tense singular (-t)

Present tense plural (-en)

Yes/no questions

Question words (wie, wat, waar)

Noun negation (geen)

Plural nouns (-en)

Plural nouns (-s)

Diminutives (-je)

Adjective modifiers (heel, erg, te)

Verb negation (niet)

Singular possessives (mijn, jouw, zijn, haar)

Plural and formal possessives (ons/onze, jullie, hun, uw)

This and these (deze, dit)

That and those (die, dat)

Asking which (welke, welk)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elf, twaalf, dertien...)

Tens and compound numbers (dertig, veertig...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (eerste, tweede...)

Telling time: hours and half hours (uur, half)

Telling time: quarters (kwart over, kwart voor)

Question words (hoeveel, waarom)

Irregular verbs (doen, gaan, staan, zien, komen)

Adjective endings (+e)

Adjectives with 'het' words

Prepositions of place (uit, bij)

Subject-verb inversion

Time before place

Modal verbs (willen, kunnen)

Modal verbs (moeten, mogen)

The verb bracket

Separable prefix verbs

The imperative mood (kom, luister)

Singular object pronouns (mij, jou, hem, haar)

Plural and formal object pronouns (ons, jullie, hen, u)

Reflexive verbs and pronouns (zich, me, je)

Position of negation (niet)

The present perfect tense with regular verbs (hebben gewerkt)

The present perfect tense with motion verbs (zijn gegaan)

Irregular past participles (gezien, gedaan)

The present continuous (zijn aan het)

There is / there are (er is, er zijn)

Unstressed there (er)

And, but, or (en, maar, of)

Because (want)

Months of the year

Prepositions of time (om, van ... tot)

Greetings and politeness

Conversational glue

Prepositions with days (op)

Prepositions with seasons (in)

Genitive of time ('s morgens, 's nachts)

Adverbs of frequency (altijd, vaak)

The future tense (gaan)

The future tense (zullen)

Separable verbs with auxiliary verbs

Apostrophe plurals ('-s)

Irregular plurals (-eren)

Complex diminutives (-pje, -etje, -kje)

Possessive 's (Jan's, vaders)

Indefinite pronouns (iets, niemand, alles)

Indefinite subject pronoun (je)

Reciprocal pronoun (elkaar)

Comparative adjectives (-er dan)

Comparatives with spelling change (-der)

Superlative adjectives (-st)

Irregular comparisons (beter, meer, minder)

Expressing preference (graag, liever, het liefst)

Equality comparisons (even ... als)

Fixed prepositions

That clauses (dat)

Because clauses (omdat)

If and when clauses (als)

Inversion after clauses

Separable verbs in clauses

Negation in clauses (niet)

Past tense of to be (was / waren)

Past tense of to have (had / hadden)

Question	Answer
know-it-all (noun)	de betweter
to claim / to believe (to be true)	menen
That know-it-all claims to know everything better.	Die betweter meent alles beter te weten.
We shouldn't believe that know-it-all.	We zouden die betweter niet moeten geloven.
to overestimate	overschatten
infallible	onfeilbaar
He overestimates himself and claims to be infallible.	Hij overschat zichzelf en meent onfeilbaar te zijn.
You wouldn't overestimate him if you really knew him.	Je zou hem niet overschatten als je hem echt kende.
During the meeting, the manager claims to be infallible.	De manager meent tijdens de vergadering onfeilbaar te zijn.
No one is infallible, even though he claims to be perfect.	Niemand is onfeilbaar, ook al meent hij perfect te zijn.
claim	de claim
unfounded	ongegrond
He claims to speak the truth, but his claim is unfounded.	Hij meent de waarheid te spreken, maar zijn claim is ongegrond.
As soon as the gossip turned out to be unfounded, the know-it-all disappeared.	Zodra de roddel ongegrond bleek, verdween de betweter.
She claims to hide a big secret, but her claim is fake.	Zij meent een groot geheim te verbergen, maar haar claim is nep.
Not only the claim, but also the proof was missing.	Niet alleen de claim, maar ook het bewijs ontbrak.
superior	superieur
to belittle	kleineren
He claims to be superior and tries to belittle us.	Hij meent superieur te zijn en probeert ons te kleineren.
authority	de autoriteit
That authority not only feels superior, but also infallible.	Die autoriteit voelt zich niet alleen superieur, maar ook onfeilbaar.
Would you not belittle me during the discussion?	Zou je mij tijdens de discussie niet kleineren?
They claim to have the right to belittle him.	Ze menen het recht te hebben om hem te kleineren.
The teacher claims to be the only authority.	De docent meent de enige autoriteit te zijn.
As soon as the authority spoke, the know-it-all fell silent.	Zodra de autoriteit sprak, zweeg de betweter.
to correct	corrigeren
He claims to have discovered the mistake and wants to correct everyone.	Hij meent de fout ontdekt te hebben en wil iedereen corrigeren.
You should correct that unfounded claim.	Je zou die ongegronde claim moeten corrigeren.
decisive	doorslaggevend
She claims to possess conclusive evidence.	Ze meent doorslaggevend bewijs te bezitten.
That detail is not only important, but also decisive.	Dat detail is niet alleen belangrijk, maar ook doorslaggevend.
stupid	dom
The know-it-all thinks everyone is stupid.	De betweter vindt iedereen dom.
He belittles us and calls us stupid.	Hij kleineert ons en noemt ons dom.

Contributors