Word
Daarom hebben we de puzzel met z'n tweeën gekraakt.
Meaning
That is why the two of us cracked the puzzle.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Daarom hebben we de puzzel met z'n tweeën gekraakt.
hebben
to have
twee
two
met
with
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about Daarom hebben we de puzzel met z'n tweeën gekraakt.
Why does the phrase use z'n when the subject is we?
In Dutch, the phrase structure met z'n + [number] + en is a fixed expression used for groups doing something together. Even though z'n originally comes from zijn (his), it has become completely frozen in this idiom. You use met z'n regardless of whether the subject is wij, jullie, or zij. So, met z'n tweeën means the two of us here, but it could also mean the two of them or the two of you in a different sentence.
Why is there an -en added to twee in tweeën?
In these specific met z'n phrases, numbers take a plural -en or -n ending because you are referring to a group of people. For twee, it becomes tweeën (with the two dots, called a trema, showing where the new syllable starts). You will see the same pattern with other numbers, like met z'n drieën for the three of us or met z'n vieren for the four of us.
Why does the verb hebben come before the subject we?
This is a quick refresher on the Dutch V2 (verb-second) rule. In a normal main clause, the conjugated verb must be in the second position. Because this sentence starts with the word Daarom (That is why) in position one, the verb hebben must take position two. This pushes the subject we into position three.