Breakdown of De vader met wie ik praat, is verantwoordelijk.
ik
I
zijn
to be
met
with
praten
to talk
wie
who
de vader
the father
verantwoordelijk
responsible
Questions & Answers about De vader met wie ik praat, is verantwoordelijk.
Why do we use met wie here instead of a word like waarmee?
Because de vader is a person. Your current lesson covers combining er or waar with prepositions for things (like waarmee or ermee). However, when a preposition refers to a person, Dutch uses the normal preposition followed by wie (e.g., met wie, aan wie).
Can I split met wie in the sentence, like we do with words like ermee?
No. While you can often split those combined words for things (putting er and mee in different parts of the clause), you cannot split a preposition and wie. They must stay right next to each other.
Why are there two verbs right next to each other (praat, is)?
The comma separates the relative clause (met wie ik praat) from the main sentence. The core sentence is just De vader is verantwoordelijk. Because the inserted relative clause pushes its own verb (praat) to the end, it bumps directly into the main verb (is).
If the verb goes to the end of a relative clause, why is praat right next to the subject ik?
It actually is at the end! In the short relative clause met wie ik praat, there are no extra details like time or place. Since it only contains the subject (ik) and the verb (praat), the verb naturally sits right after the subject while still successfully being placed at the very end of the clause.
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