Breakdown of Kan jij de titel van dat boek onthouden?
jij
you
het boek
the book
dat
that (het-words)
kunnen
can
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
de titel
the title
onthouden
to remember (memorize)
Questions & Answers about Kan jij de titel van dat boek onthouden?
The current lesson is about kennen and weten. Could I use one of those here instead of onthouden?
It would change the meaning. Onthouden means to commit to memory or retain information (like keeping a title in your head that you just heard). If you want to ask "Do you currently know the title from memory?", you would use weten (to know a fact) along with the word nog (still): Weet jij de titel van dat boek nog?
What is the difference between onthouden and zich herinneren? They both translate to "remember".
Onthouden is about storing information in your brain so you don't forget it (memorizing or keeping in mind). Zich herinneren is about retrieving a memory from the past (recalling). Because this sentence is asking someone to keep the title in their head going forward, onthouden is the right choice.
I often see kun jij instead of kan jij. Are they both correct?
Yes, both are correct! For the pronoun jij/je, the verb kunnen (can/to be able to) has two valid forms: jij kunt and jij kan. When you invert the order to ask a question, jij kunt drops the -t to become kun jij, while jij kan simply becomes kan jij. Kun jij is slightly more standard in writing, but kan jij is extremely common in everyday speech.
Why is it dat boek instead of die boek?
Because boek is a het-word (het boek). When pointing out a specific het-word, "that" translates to dat (and "this" translates to dit). You only use die (that) and deze (this) for de-words and plural nouns.
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