Breakdown of Ik heb de algemene informatie onthouden, dus ik weet het antwoord.
ik
I
hebben
to have
het antwoord
the answer
de informatie
the information
weten
to know (a fact)
dus
so, therefore
algemeen
general
onthouden
to remember (memorize)
Questions & Answers about Ik heb de algemene informatie onthouden, dus ik weet het antwoord.
Why do we use weet for knowing the answer instead of ken?
We use weten because an answer (het antwoord) is a fact or a piece of information. You use kennen when you are familiar with a person, place, or thing (like knowing a friend or a city). Since you are stating you possess the factual information of the answer, weet is the right choice.
Why doesn't the past participle onthouden get a ge- prefix like most verbs?
In Dutch, verbs that begin with an inseparable prefix (like be-, er-, ge-, her-, ont-, or ver-) do not get the ge- added to their past participle. Since onthouden is made with the prefix ont-, the past participle is simply onthouden.
Why is the word order dus ik weet instead of inverting to dus weet ik?
Dus is very flexible! It can act as a coordinating conjunction (like en or maar), which means it doesn't change the word order, giving us dus ik weet. However, it can also act as an adverb, which would cause inversion (dus weet ik). Both are correct and natural in this sentence.
Why is algemeen spelled as algemene here?
Informatie is a de-word. When you put an adjective before a noun with a definite article (de or het), the adjective almost always gets an -e ending. When we add the -e to algemeen, the last syllable becomes open, so we have to drop one of the es to keep the vowel sound the same, resulting in algemene.
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