Breakdown of Het was de uitvinder die de wetenschap wilde veranderen.
zijn
to be
willen
to want
het
it
veranderen
to change
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
de uitvinder
the inventor
de wetenschap
the science
Questions & Answers about Het was de uitvinder die de wetenschap wilde veranderen.
Why do we use die for "who" here instead of wie?
In Dutch cleft sentences like "It was X who...", you just use standard relative pronouns to refer back to the person or thing. Because uitvinder (inventor) is a de-word, we use die. You should avoid using wie as a subject relative pronoun in Dutch; die is used for both people and things as long as they are de-words.
Why are the verbs wilde veranderen grouped at the very end of the sentence?
The second half of this cleft sentence (die de wetenschap wilde veranderen) acts as a subclause. In Dutch subclauses, all verbs get pushed to the end of the sentence. Here, the conjugated past tense modal verb wilde (wanted) and the infinitive veranderen (to change) cluster together at the very end.
The English translation just says "science", so why does the Dutch sentence use de wetenschap?
In English, we usually drop the article for abstract concepts or broad fields of study like science, history, or nature. In Dutch, it is much more common to keep the definite article (de or het) for these words. So, general "science" becomes de wetenschap.
Could I use wou instead of wilde here?
Yes, you can! Both wilde and wou are correct past tense forms of willen (to want) for singular subjects. Wilde is the standard, slightly more formal choice often seen in writing and literature, while wou is very popular in everyday spoken Dutch.
Learn Het was de uitvinder die de wetenschap wilde veranderen and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free