Breakdown of De winnaar is degene die de trofee krijgt.
zijn
to be
krijgen
to get (receive)
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
degene
the one (who)
de trofee
the trophy
de winnaar
the winner
Questions & Answers about De winnaar is degene die de trofee krijgt.
Why do we use degene die instead of translating "the one who" literally?
In Dutch, you cannot translate "the one who" literally as de een die. When referring to a specific person without naming them, you use the demonstrative pronoun degene followed by the relative pronoun die. Together, degene die simply means "the one who" or "the person who".
How would this sentence change if there were multiple winners?
If there are multiple winners, you must make the pronoun plural by adding an -n, becoming degenen. The plural sentence would be: De winnaars zijn degenen die de trofee krijgen. Notice that the verbs is and krijgt must also change to their plural forms.
Why is the verb krijgt placed at the very end of the sentence?
The word die acts as a relative pronoun here, introducing a relative clause (die de trofee krijgt). Because relative clauses follow the rules of subordinate clauses in Dutch, the conjugated verb (krijgt) gets pushed to the end.
If the winner was an object rather than a person, would we still use degene die?
No, degene die is only used when referring to people. If you need to refer to a thing, an object, or an abstract concept, you would use datgene wat ("that which" or "the thing that") instead.
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