Word
Hij vindt dat perspectief beter, maar hij denkt dat mijn argument klopt.
Meaning
He finds that perspective better, but he thinks that my argument is correct.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hij vindt dat perspectief beter, maar hij denkt dat mijn argument klopt.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
maar
but
mijn
my
denken
to think
Questions & Answers about Hij vindt dat perspectief beter, maar hij denkt dat mijn argument klopt.
Why does this sentence use both vindt and denkt? Can they be swapped?
They cannot be swapped. We use vinden for personal opinions and judgments, like evaluating if a perspective is beter (better). We use denken for things you believe to be factually true or untrue, like whether an argument klopt (is correct).
The word dat appears twice. Do they do the same thing here?
No, they do two different jobs. In dat perspectief, dat is a pointing word (demonstrative pronoun) meaning 'that specific perspective'. In denkt dat, dat is a connecting word (conjunction) meaning 'thinks that', which introduces the final clause.
Why is the verb klopt at the very end of the sentence?
The connecting word dat (the one meaning 'thinks that') introduces a subordinate clause: dat mijn argument klopt. In Dutch subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the end of that clause.
Doesn't the verb kloppen usually mean 'to knock' or 'to beat'?
Yes, it is used for a beating heart or knocking on a door. But in everyday Dutch, kloppen is very commonly used to mean 'to be correct' or 'to make sense'. So mijn argument klopt just means 'my argument is correct'.