Breakdown of Het antwoord zal wel een raadsel zijn.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
het antwoord
the answer
zullen
shall / will
wel
indeed, surely (contrastive particle)
het raadsel
the mystery
Questions & Answers about Het antwoord zal wel een raadsel zijn.
Why does the Dutch sentence use zal when the English translation says "is"?
In Dutch, the modal verb zullen (used here as zal) is not just for the future tense. It is frequently used to express a strong assumption, probability, or expectation about the present. Translating it as "is probably" captures this meaning perfectly.
What is the purpose of the word wel in this sentence?
Here, wel acts as a modal particle that emphasizes the assumption. While zal already hints at probability, adding wel makes it sound much more natural, similar to saying "I assume" or "I bet". Without it, the sentence sounds more like a strict future prediction: "The answer will be a mystery."
Why is the verb zijn placed at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard word order when using a modal verb. The conjugated modal verb zal takes the second position in the sentence, pushing the full infinitive verb it works with (zijn) all the way to the end of the clause.
Does raadsel strictly mean "mystery"?
No, raadsel also translates directly to "riddle" or "puzzle". Calling an answer een raadsel means it is confusing or impossible to figure out, making "mystery" a very natural English translation for this context.
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