Breakdown of Wat haar inspireert, is vechten tegen het onrecht.
zijn
to be
haar
her
tegen
against / to (speaking to)
vechten
to fight
wat
that / which (relative)
inspireren
to inspire
het onrecht
the injustice
Questions & Answers about Wat haar inspireert, is vechten tegen het onrecht.
How does the pseudo-cleft structure affect the word order here?
The entire clause Wat haar inspireert acts as the subject and takes up the first position in the main sentence. Because Dutch follows the V2 (verb-second) rule in main clauses, the finite verb is must come immediately after it in the second position, often separated by a comma for readability.
In the first clause, why does the object haar come before the verb?
The first part (Wat haar inspireert) is a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the end. Here, Wat functions as the subject, haar (her) is the direct object, and the finite verb inspireert goes at the very end.
Why doesn't vechten have te in front of it?
In this sentence, the infinitive vechten (fighting / to fight) functions purely as a noun telling us what her inspiration is. When an infinitive acts as a noun phrase in this way after the verb zijn (to be), Dutch uses the bare infinitive without te.
Why does Dutch say het onrecht instead of just onrecht like in English?
Dutch often adds a definite article (de or het) to abstract nouns when discussing them as general, overarching concepts. While vechten tegen onrecht (without the article) is also perfectly fine, adding het gives it the nuanced feel of fighting 'the concept of injustice' as a whole.
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