Breakdown of Hij wilde het territorium beschermen tegen wie dan ook.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
ook
also / -ever (concessive particle)
wie
who
willen
to want
beschermen
to protect
tegen
against / to (speaking to)
het territorium
the territory
dan ook
(in 'wie dan ook') -ever
Questions & Answers about Hij wilde het territorium beschermen tegen wie dan ook.
This lesson is about weten te. How would the sentence change if we used that structure instead of wilde?
If you changed the sentence to Hij wist het territorium te beschermen, the meaning shifts from "He wanted to protect" to "He managed to protect" or "He succeeded in protecting." The phrase weten te followed by an infinitive is a common way to express that someone successfully achieved something.
How does the phrase wie dan ook work here?
The phrase wie dan ook literally translates to "who then also," but it functions as a fixed expression meaning "anyone at all," "anyone whatsoever," or "whoever." You can apply this same pattern to other question words, such as wat dan ook (anything/whatever) or waar dan ook (anywhere/wherever).
Can I use van instead of tegen to say "protect from"?
No, you should stick with tegen. While English speakers often say "protect from," the fixed preposition in Dutch is beschermen tegen (to protect against). Using van here would sound like a literal, unnatural translation from English.
Why does the prepositional phrase tegen wie dan ook come after the verb beschermen?
While the general rule is to place the infinitive (beschermen) at the very end of the clause, prepositional phrases can optionally be placed after the final verbs. This often sounds more natural in Dutch and prevents the middle of the sentence from becoming too long. However, placing it before the verb (...tegen wie dan ook beschermen) is also grammatically correct.
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