Breakdown of Een eeuw geleden wisten weinig mensen wie hun verre voorouders waren.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
wie
who
hun
their
de mens
the human / the person
weten
to know (a fact)
ver
far
weinig
little / few
de eeuw
the century
geleden
ago
de voorouder
the ancestor
Questions & Answers about Een eeuw geleden wisten weinig mensen wie hun verre voorouders waren.
Why does geleden come after een eeuw?
In Dutch, geleden means "ago" and it always comes after the amount of time it relates to. Just like in English ("a century ago"), you state the duration first (een eeuw) and then add geleden at the end of the time phrase.
Why is the verb wisten placed before the subject weinig mensen?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The sentence starts with the time phrase Een eeuw geleden. Because this entire phrase occupies the first slot in the sentence, the main verb (wisten) must take the second slot, which pushes the subject (weinig mensen) into the third position.
Why use a form of weten (wisten) here instead of kennen?
Even though the sentence mentions people (voorouders), the phrase wie hun verre voorouders waren represents a fact or a piece of information. You use weten when knowing a fact (like knowing who someone is), whereas kennen is used when you are personally acquainted with a person or familiar with a place.
Why is the verb waren pushed all the way to the end of the sentence?
The word wie (who) introduces a subordinate clause here (wie hun verre voorouders waren). In Dutch subordinate clauses, the normal word order changes and the working verbs are pushed to the very end of that clause.
Why does the adjective ver get an extra -e in verre voorouders?
The adjective ver (far or distant) gets an -e ending because it describes a plural noun (voorouders). Plural nouns always act as de-words, and adjectives before them get an -e. Notice that adding the -e requires doubling the -r- to keep the original short "e" sound of ver.
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