Breakdown of De man van wie we de leeftijd niet weten, is niet getrouwd.
zijn
to be
de man
the man
niet
not
wie
who
weten
to know (a fact)
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
getrouwd
married
de leeftijd
the age
Questions & Answers about De man van wie we de leeftijd niet weten, is niet getrouwd.
Why do we use van wie here instead of a single word for "whose"?
In Dutch, van wie literally means "of whom". It is the most common and natural way to say "whose" when referring to people. There are single words for "whose" (wiens for men/neuter, wier for women/plural), but they sound very formal or written, so van wie is the standard choice for everyday language.
In English we just say "whose age", so why does the Dutch sentence add de before leeftijd?
Because van wie works literally like "of whom", the structural logic is "The man of whom we do not know the age". When you use van wie to show possession, you must include the appropriate definite article (de or het) right before the noun that is possessed.
Why is the verb weten at the very end of the first part of the sentence?
The phrase van wie we de leeftijd niet weten is a relative clause. Relative clauses act like subordinate clauses, meaning the conjugated verb gets pushed to the very end of that clause (right before the comma).
Why does the verb is come immediately after the comma?
This is due to the V2 (verb-second) rule. The main verb of a regular sentence must be in the second position. The entire first block, De man van wie we de leeftijd niet weten, acts as one big subject occupying position one. Therefore, the verb is must follow it directly in position two.
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