Breakdown of De rechercheur wil weten wat het bewijs is.
zijn
to be
wat
what
willen
to want
weten
to know (a fact)
de rechercheur
the detective
het bewijs
the evidence
Questions & Answers about De rechercheur wil weten wat het bewijs is.
Why is is at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase wat het bewijs is is an indirect question. In Dutch, indirect questions act like subordinate clauses, meaning the working verb (is) gets pushed to the very end of that clause.
How would you ask 'What is the evidence?' as a regular, direct question?
You would ask: Wat is het bewijs? In a direct question, the verb (is) comes right after the question word (Wat). The verb only moves to the end here because it is an indirect question embedded inside a larger sentence.
Could I use kennen instead of weten in this sentence?
No, you must use weten. In Dutch, weten is used for knowing facts or information, such as knowing what the evidence is. Kennen is used for being familiar with a person or place, like knowing the detective personally.
Is het bewijs singular or plural?
It is singular. Bewijs (evidence or proof) is a neuter noun, which is why it uses het. The plural would be de bewijzen (the pieces of evidence). In English, evidence is usually an uncountable concept, but in Dutch you can count it!
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