Breakdown of De kandidaat zat zenuwachtig te wachten, maar leek wel enthousiast.
maar
but
zitten
to sit
wachten
to wait
wel
indeed, surely (contrastive particle)
te
to (infinitive marker)
de kandidaat
the candidate
lijken
to seem
zenuwachtig
nervous
enthousiast
enthusiastic
Questions & Answers about De kandidaat zat zenuwachtig te wachten, maar leek wel enthousiast.
Why is leek used here instead of scheen or bleek?
Leek (the past tense of lijken) is used because the speaker is describing their own visual impression of the candidate ('seemed' or 'appeared'). If you used bleek, it would mean it later turned out to be a proven fact. If you used scheen, it would mean you heard a rumor from someone else that they were enthusiastic.
What is the grammar behind zat te wachten?
This is a continuous construction using a position verb (zitten, to sit) plus te and an infinitive (wachten, to wait). It emphasizes that the action was ongoing: 'was sitting and waiting'. You use this to paint a clearer picture of an ongoing scene rather than just using the simple past tense of waiting.
How does the word wel change the meaning here?
Here, wel acts as a contrasting particle. Because the candidate was nervous, you might expect them not to look enthusiastic. Adding wel emphasizes the contrast against that expectation, which is why it translates nicely to 'did seem' rather than just 'seemed'.
Why isn't there a subject after maar?
The subject De kandidaat applies to both parts of the sentence. Because maar (but) is a coordinating conjunction linking two main clauses with the exact same subject, you do not need to repeat the subject in the second half.
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