Word
We weten niet of de kok die hier werkt ziek is.
Meaning
We do not know if the cook who works here is sick.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about We weten niet of de kok die hier werkt ziek is.
Why do we use die here instead of dat?
We use die because it refers back to de kok (the cook). In Dutch, we use die to say "who" or "that" when pointing back to de-words and plural words. If we were referring back to a het-word, we would use dat instead.
Can I use wie instead of die to say "who works here"?
No, you must use die. Even though we are talking about a person, Dutch uses the relative pronouns die or dat to point back to a specific noun that was just mentioned (like de kok). The word wie is mostly used as a question word ("Who is there?") or after a preposition (like met wie for "with whom").
Why are the verbs werkt and is right next to each other at the end of the sentence?
This happens because we have two different clauses that both push their verbs to the end. The word of (if/whether) pushes the main verb of its clause (is) to the very end of the sentence. Sandwiched inside of that is the relative clause die hier werkt, which pushes its own verb (werkt) to the end of its specific section. As a result, the two verbs end up side-by-side.
Doesn't of usually mean "or"? Why does it mean "if" here?