Breakdown of De prins is verdrietig, hoewel de prinses het magische kasteel heeft willen zien.
zijn
to be
hebben
to have
zien
to see
willen
to want
verdrietig
sad
het
it
hoewel
although
het kasteel
the castle
de prins
the prince
magisch
magical
de prinses
the princess
Questions & Answers about De prins is verdrietig, hoewel de prinses het magische kasteel heeft willen zien.
Why is the verb order heeft willen zien at the end of the sentence? Shouldn't the conjugated verb heeft go at the very end?
Because this is a subordinate clause (started by hoewel) with a double infinitive, a special rule applies. Normally, a conjugated verb can go at the very end of a subclause. However, when you have a cluster of infinitives like willen zien, the conjugated helper verb (heeft) must be placed right before them.
Why do we use the infinitive willen instead of the past participle gewild?
This happens because of the double infinitive rule. When a modal verb like willen is used in the perfect tense together with another verb (zien), it drops its past participle form (gewild) and becomes an infinitive instead. This creates the cluster heeft willen zien (has wanted to see).
Could I change the order of the infinitives to heeft zien willen?
No, the order is fixed. The modal verb (willen) must come before the main action verb (zien). It closely matches the English word order: wanted (willen) to see (zien).
Just to refresh, why does magische get an -e at the end here?
kasteel is a het word. When a het word is preceded by the definite article het (the), any adjective before the noun gets an -e added to it. You would only drop the -e if it were preceded by een (a) or no article at all, which would make it een magisch kasteel.
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