Breakdown of De slak eet wat van de plant.
eten
to eat
de plant
the plant
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
wat
something / some (a little)
de slak
the snail
Questions & Answers about De slak eet wat van de plant.
Why is wat translated as "a little" here?
In Dutch, wat is often used as a short, unstressed way to say een beetje (a little) or "some". You could easily replace it and say De slak eet een beetje van de plant without changing the overall meaning.
Can I use iets instead of wat in this sentence?
Yes, you can say De slak eet iets van de plant. However, iets translates more strictly to "something". Using wat is extremely common in spoken Dutch because it smoothly doubles as an unstressed, casual version of both iets (something) and een beetje (a little).
Is it possible to translate wat as "what" in this sentence?
No, that wouldn't make sense here. While wat is the question word for "what", it acts as an indefinite pronoun (a word representing a non-specific amount or thing) in this sentence. When it isn't part of a question, it almost always means "something", "some", or "a little".
Why do we need the preposition van here?
Just like in English, you use van (of/from) to show that the snail is eating a portion out of a whole item. Wat van de plant directly mirrors the English phrase "a little of the plant".
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