Breakdown of Hij vraagt waarom de rechercheur dat spoor volgt.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
dat
that (het-words)
waarom
why
vragen
to ask
volgen
to follow
de rechercheur
the detective
het spoor
the track
Questions & Answers about Hij vraagt waarom de rechercheur dat spoor volgt.
Why is the verb volgt at the very end of the sentence?
The second half of this sentence (waarom de rechercheur dat spoor volgt) is an indirect question. When a question word like waarom (why) connects two parts of a sentence, it acts like a subordinating conjunction. This means the second part becomes a subclause, which pushes the conjugated verb (volgt) all the way to the end.
Why is it dat spoor and not die spoor for "that trail"?
The word for trail or track, spoor, is a het-word (het spoor). In Dutch, when you point to a het-word and say "that", you must use dat. You only use die for de-words or for plurals.
The English translation says "is following", but the Dutch just says volgt. Why don't we translate the "is"?
Dutch doesn't use the continuous tense ("is doing", "are walking") nearly as often as English does. The simple present tense in Dutch, like hij volgt, easily translates to both "he follows" and "he is following" depending on the context.
The word rechercheur looks unusual. Is it a loanword?
Yes, it is borrowed from French! Dutch uses quite a few French loanwords, especially for police and official terms (like politie and bureau). Because it's French, the "ch" is pronounced like an English "sh".
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