Breakdown of Wie gaat met de trein?
met
with
wie
who
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
de trein
the train
Questions & Answers about Wie gaat met de trein?
Why do we use the singular verb gaat here if we don't know how many people are going?
Just like in English, the question word wie (who) is treated as a singular word. Even if you expect the answer to be a group of people, you still ask the question using the singular form gaat (goes).
The translation says "by train", but doesn't met mean "with"?
Yes, met literally means "with". In Dutch, you don't travel "by" a vehicle, you travel "with" it. So, you say met de trein (with the train), met de fiets (with the bike), and so on.
Why is there a de before trein? In English we just say "by train".
How do I know gaat means "is going" and not just "goes"?
Dutch generally uses the simple present tense for both situations. The single word gaat translates to both "goes" and "is going". You can tell which one makes sense based on the context of the conversation.
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