Breakdown of Men moet het beleid naleven, hetgeen vaak moeilijk is.
zijn
to be
vaak
often
moeilijk
difficult
moeten
to have to, must
Questions & Answers about Men moet het beleid naleven, hetgeen vaak moeilijk is.
Why use hetgeen instead of wat for 'which' in this sentence?
hetgeen is a formal relative pronoun that refers back to an entire preceding clause (in this case, the fact that one must comply with the policy). While wat is the standard, everyday word to use here, hetgeen fits perfectly with the formal, bureaucratic tone set by words like men (one) and beleid (policy).
Does hetgeen always force the verb to the end of the sentence like 'is' does here?
Yes. Because hetgeen is a relative pronoun, it introduces a relative clause. Relative clauses are subordinate clauses, meaning they follow subordinate word order where the conjugated verb (is) is pushed to the end.
Could I use 'je' or 'ze' instead of 'men' here?
Grammatically yes, but it would change the tone. men is an indefinite pronoun meaning 'one' or 'people in general' and is quite formal. It matches the strict tone of het beleid (the policy) and hetgeen. In a casual conversation, you would definitely say je moet (you have to) instead.
Why is the separable verb 'naleven' (to comply with) written as one single word here instead of being split?