Breakdown of De man met wie ik date, is heel charmant.
ik
I
zijn
to be
de man
the man
met
with
wie
who
heel
very
daten
to date
charmant
charming
Questions & Answers about De man met wie ik date, is heel charmant.
Why does the Dutch sentence say 'met wie' when the English translation just says 'I am dating'?
In Dutch, the verb daten (to date) is used with the preposition met (with). When you use a preposition to refer to a person in a relative clause, you combine it with wie (whom). So, literally, this translates to 'The man with whom I date'.
Is date a Dutch word?
Yes, daten is a loanword borrowed directly from English. It means the exact same thing and is pronounced the same way. The ik (I) form is simply date.
Why is there a comma right before is?
The comma marks the end of the relative clause (met wie ik date). It separates the extra information from the main verb (is). If you take out the relative clause, you can see the main sentence clearly: De man is heel charmant.
If relative clauses push verbs to the end of the sentence, why is date right next to ik?
In a relative clause, the verb is pushed to the very end of that specific clause. Because this relative clause is so short, there are only two words after met wie: the subject (ik) and the verb (date). Since there is nothing else to push the verb past, date is already at the end!
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