Questions & Answers about We weten dat zij een dure verzameling hadden.
Why is the verb hadden at the very end of the sentence?
The word dat (that) introduces a subclause (a dependent part of the sentence). In Dutch, subclauses have a special word order where the conjugated verb—in this case, the past tense hadden—gets pushed to the very end.
How do we know zij means "they" here instead of "she"?
You can tell by looking at the verb! The word zij can mean "she" or "they". Since the verb is hadden (the plural form of "had"), we know zij must mean "they". If it meant "she", the verb would be the singular form, had.
The dictionary word for "expensive" is duur. Why is it spelled dure here?
Because verzameling (collection) is a de-word, the adjective in front of it gets an extra -e ending. When we add the -e to duur, a spelling rule kicks in: we drop one u to keep the syllable "open" while keeping the same long vowel sound.
Can we mix present tense (weten) and past tense (hadden) in one sentence like this?
Yes! Just like in English, the main action can be happening right now (weten - we know), while the subclause describes a situation that already happened in the past (hadden - they had).