Breakdown of De klasgenoot van wie de levensstijl onherkenbaar is, mist het contact.
zijn
to be
missen
to miss / to lack
wie
who
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
Questions & Answers about De klasgenoot van wie de levensstijl onherkenbaar is, mist het contact.
Why do we use van wie here to mean "whose"?
In Dutch, van wie literally means "of whom". It is the most common and natural way to express "whose" when referring to a person. You place it right after the person it refers to (de klasgenoot), followed immediately by the thing they possess (de levensstijl).
Why is the verb is at the end of the phrase van wie de levensstijl onherkenbaar is?
This phrase is a relative clause, which acts like a subclause in Dutch. In a subclause, all verbs are pushed to the end of the phrase. Therefore, is must come after the adjective onherkenbaar.
Why does the sentence continue with the verb mist immediately after the comma?
If you remove the extra information separated by the commas, the core sentence is simply De klasgenoot mist het contact (The classmate misses the contact). The relative clause just interrupts the main clause, so mist is simply the main verb following its subject De klasgenoot.
How is the word onherkenbaar constructed?
It is built from the verb herkennen (to recognize). Adding the suffix -baar makes it mean "-able" (herkenbaar means recognizable), and adding the prefix on- makes it negative, just like "un-" in English.