Breakdown of De vrouw die wij beoordelen, blijkt heel bescheiden te zijn.
zijn
to be
de vrouw
the woman
wij
we
heel
very
te
to (infinitive marker)
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
blijken
to turn out / to appear
bescheiden
modest
beoordelen
to evaluate / to judge
Questions & Answers about De vrouw die wij beoordelen, blijkt heel bescheiden te zijn.
Why is blijkt used here instead of lijkt or schijnt?
The verb blijken means that something has been proven or has become evident. Because the speakers are actively evaluating the woman, they have concrete evidence of her modesty, so she "turns out" to be modest. If you used lijkt, it would mean she merely "appears" modest based on an impression. If you used schijnt, it would mean you only heard a rumor that she is modest.
Why do we need te zijn at the end of the sentence?
The verbs blijken, lijken, and schijnen are frequently followed by te + an infinitive verb to express how something "turns out to be" or "seems to be". You could actually leave out te zijn and just say blijkt heel bescheiden, which is also correct, but adding te zijn makes the sentence sound a bit more formal and complete.
Since "die" means "who" here, why can't I use wie?
English speakers often want to use wie for people, but in Dutch relative clauses, you almost always use die or dat regardless of whether it's a person or an object. Because vrouw is a de word, we use die. You only use wie in a relative clause if it comes right after a preposition, like in de vrouw met wie wij praten (the woman with whom we are talking).
Why does the verb blijkt come right after the comma?
The core of this sentence is simply De vrouw blijkt heel bescheiden te zijn. The phrase die wij beoordelen is a relative clause that interrupts the main sentence to give extra information about the woman. Once that interrupting clause finishes with its own verb (beoordelen), the main sentence picks right back up where it left off with its main verb (blijkt).
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