Word
Hij betreurt zijn opmerking, wat ik echter begrijp.
Meaning
He regrets his remark, which I understand, however.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hij betreurt zijn opmerking, wat ik echter begrijp.
ik
I
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
begrijpen
to understand
zijn
his
Questions & Answers about Hij betreurt zijn opmerking, wat ik echter begrijp.
Why does this sentence use wat instead of die? Since opmerking is a de-word, shouldn't it be die?
In this sentence, wat doesn't refer to the word opmerking. Instead, it refers to the entire previous clause: the fact that he regrets his remark. When a relative pronoun refers back to a whole clause or situation, you always use wat. If you used die, it would mean you understand the remark itself, rather than understanding his regret.
Why does the verb begrijp go at the very end of the sentence?
The second part of the sentence starting with wat is a relative clause. Relative clauses follow standard subclause word order in Dutch, which means the conjugated verb (begrijp) is pushed all the way to the end.
Could I put echter right after wat, like "wat echter ik begrijp"?
No, echter (however) cannot interrupt the relative pronoun (wat) and the subject (ik). In a subclause like this, adverbs usually belong in the middle field, placed safely after the subject.
Is betreuren the normal way to say "to regret" in Dutch?