Breakdown of We hebben twee mogelijkheden: we winnen of we verliezen.
hebben
to have
twee
two
of
or
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
winnen
to win
verliezen
to lose
de mogelijkheid
the possibility
Questions & Answers about We hebben twee mogelijkheden: we winnen of we verliezen.
Why is the plural of mogelijkheid spelled mogelijkheden instead of mogelijkheiden?
Nouns ending in the suffix -heid always change to -heden in the plural. This is a very common spelling pattern in Dutch. So, mogelijkheid (possibility) becomes mogelijkheden (possibilities).
If I wanted to add to this sentence and say "I know the two possibilities," would I use kennen or weten?
You would use kennen (ik ken de twee mogelijkheden) because you are expressing familiarity with a noun or concept. You generally use weten for facts, such as when followed by a subclause: "I know that we have two possibilities" (ik weet dat we twee mogelijkheden hebben).
Why doesn't the word order invert after of?
The word of (or) is a coordinating conjunction, just like en (and) and maar (but). It simply connects two equal main clauses without changing the word order in the second one, so it stays Subject + Verb (we verliezen).
The translation says "we win or we lose". Could this also translate to "we will win or we will lose"?
Yes! While it translates literally to the English present tense, Dutch frequently uses the present tense to talk about the future. The context of having two potential outcomes makes it perfectly natural to interpret this as a future event.
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