Breakdown of Welke kat probeer jij te aaien?
jij
you
de kat
the cat
welke
which (for de-words and plural)
proberen
to try
te
to (infinitive marker)
aaien
to pet
Questions & Answers about Welke kat probeer jij te aaien?
Why use welke instead of wat voor een here?
Welke means "which" and asks for a specific choice from a group (like pointing at a few cats and asking which one). If you used wat voor een, you would be asking "what kind of" cat it is, focusing on its breed or personality.
Why is it welke and not welk?
Because kat is a de-word (de kat). You always use welke for de-words and all plural words. You only use welk with singular het-words, such as welk dier (which animal).
Why is there no 't' on the end of probeer?
When forming a question, the verb and subject swap places. Whenever jij or je (you) comes directly after the verb, you drop the final -t. So the normal statement jij probeert becomes the question probeer jij.
What is the word te doing before aaien?
It links the two verbs together, just like the word "to" in the English phrase "trying to pet". The verb proberen (to try) requires te placed right before the infinitive verb (aaien) at the end of the sentence.
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