Word
Het was het voorspelbaarste wat de acteur ooit deed.
Meaning
It was the most predictable thing the actor ever did.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Het was het voorspelbaarste wat de acteur ooit deed.
zijn
to be
doen
to do
de acteur
the actor
ooit
ever, someday
Questions & Answers about Het was het voorspelbaarste wat de acteur ooit deed.
Why is wat used here instead of dat?
Normally, you use dat to refer back to a neuter noun (a het-word). However, when you refer back to a neuter superlative acting as a noun, like het voorspelbaarste, you must use wat. You also use wat after indefinite words like alles or niets.
Where is the word for 'thing' in the Dutch sentence?
It is built into the grammar! The combination of het plus a superlative adjective ending in -e (het voorspelbaarste) translates to 'the most predictable thing'. You do not need to add the Dutch word ding.
Why is the verb deed at the very end of the sentence?
The word wat introduces a relative clause (wat de acteur ooit deed). A relative clause is a type of subclause, which means the conjugated verb (deed) gets pushed to the very end of that clause.
Could I say wat de acteur deed ooit instead?
No, because time words like ooit (ever) usually come before the verbs at the end of a subclause. The verb deed must be the very last word in this structure.