Breakdown of Het bedrijf maakt winst, wat echter vrijwel niemand gelooft.
maken
to make
geloven
to believe
niemand
no one
het bedrijf
the company
echter
however
de winst
the profit
vrijwel
almost / virtually (practically)
wat
that / which (relative)
Questions & Answers about Het bedrijf maakt winst, wat echter vrijwel niemand gelooft.
Why do we use wat here instead of dat or die?
In this sentence, wat translates to 'which' and refers to the entire situation described in the first clause (Het bedrijf maakt winst). If you were referring back to a specific neuter noun you would use dat, but when referring back to a whole clause you always use wat.
Why does the verb gelooft go all the way to the end?
The second half of the sentence is a relative clause, which is a type of subclause introduced by wat. In Dutch subclauses, the conjugated verb is always pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Is there a difference between vrijwel and bijna?
Both words mean 'almost' and are often interchangeable. vrijwel translates more closely to 'practically' or 'virtually' and sounds slightly more formal, which fits perfectly with the business context of this sentence.
Why is there no article before winst? Shouldn't it be een winst maakt?
In Dutch, winst maken (to make a profit) is a set expression where winst is treated as a general, uncountable concept. You leave out the article entirely, similar to saying 'making money' in English.
Why is echter placed so early in the second clause?
echter means 'however'. While English often floats 'however' to the very end of a sentence, Dutch adverbs in a subclause usually tuck in closely after the connecting word (here, wat) and before the subject (vrijwel niemand).
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