Breakdown of Het was de acteur die beroemder was dan de regisseur.
zijn
to be
het
it
dan
than
beroemd
famous
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
de regisseur
the director
de acteur
the actor
Questions & Answers about Het was de acteur die beroemder was dan de regisseur.
Why do we use die here instead of wie for "who"?
Even though it translates to "who", Dutch cleft sentences use standard relative pronouns. Because acteur is a de-word, we must use die. You generally only use wie as a relative pronoun after a preposition (like met wie) or when it means "whoever".
Why doesn't Het was change its gender or number to match de acteur?
In a cleft sentence, Het was (or Het is) acts as a fixed introductory phrase to put the focus on what comes next. It always uses the neutral, singular dummy subject Het, regardless of whether the emphasized noun is plural or a de-word.
Why is the second was placed before dan de regisseur instead of at the very end of the sentence?
The clause starting with die is a subordinate clause, which pushes the verb (was) to the end. However, comparative phrases starting with dan (than) can be placed outside the verb group at the very end of the sentence to make it sound more natural. Saying die beroemder dan de regisseur was is also correct but feels a bit clunky.
I sometimes mix up dan and als for comparisons. Why is it dan here?
You use dan when there is an unequal comparison, which follows a comparative adjective ending in -er (like beroemder, meaning more famous). You use als for equal comparisons, typically with the pattern even ... als (as ... as).
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