Word
De astroloog beweert dat het lot de toekomst heeft bepaald.
Meaning
The astrologer claims that fate has determined the future.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De astroloog beweert dat het lot de toekomst heeft bepaald.
hebben
to have
de toekomst
the future
dat
that (conjunction)
beweren
to claim
Questions & Answers about De astroloog beweert dat het lot de toekomst heeft bepaald.
Could I say bepaald heeft instead of heeft bepaald?
Yes, absolutely! Because this is a subordinate clause (introduced by dat), the verbs get pushed to the end. When you have an auxiliary verb (heeft) and a past participle (bepaald) together at the end, you can put them in either order. Heeft bepaald is known as the red word order, and bepaald heeft is the green word order. Both are perfectly correct and widely used in Dutch.
Why do all the verbs pile up at the end of the second half of the sentence?
The word dat (that) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, all the verbs are pushed to the very end of the phrase. That is why heeft and bepaald sit together after the object (de toekomst).
What exactly does het lot mean in this context?
Here, het lot translates to fate or destiny. It comes from the historical concept of drawing lots to decide something, which is also why the Dutch word for lottery is de loterij.
Is beweert related to the English word beware?
No, they are false friends! The Dutch verb beweren means to claim, assert, or maintain that something is true. It has nothing to do with warning someone to be careful.