Breakdown of Waarom wil iemand deze doos stelen?
willen
to want
deze
this / these
waarom
why
iemand
someone
stelen
to steal
de doos
the box
Questions & Answers about Waarom wil iemand deze doos stelen?
Does iemand take a singular or plural verb?
It takes a singular verb, just like "he" or "she" (hij or zij). That is why we use wil (singular) instead of willen (plural) here.
Can iemand mean both "someone" and "anyone"?
Yes! In Dutch, iemand covers both. In this question, translating it as "Why does anyone want to steal this box?" is also perfectly correct.
Why is the verb stelen at the very end of the sentence?
This is because of the modal verb wil (want to). In Dutch, a conjugated modal verb pushes the main action verb (stelen) to the very end of the clause in its full dictionary form (the infinitive).
Why is it deze doos instead of dit doos?
Doos (box) is a de-word (de doos). For all de-words, the word for "this" is deze. If it were a het-word, you would use dit.
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