Breakdown of Ondanks de mist wisten we de vallei met de verrekijker te bekijken.
met
with
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
te
to (infinitive marker)
de mist
the fog
ondanks
despite
bekijken
to look at, to examine
de vallei
the valley
weten te
to manage to
de verrekijker
the binoculars
Questions & Answers about Ondanks de mist wisten we de vallei met de verrekijker te bekijken.
Wait, doesn't weten mean "to know"? Why does this translate to "managed to"?
When weten is combined with te and an infinitive (here, te bekijken), it takes on the meaning of "managing to" or "succeeding in" doing something. It implies that there was some difficulty or effort involved—in this case, seeing through the fog (de mist).
Could I use lukken to express "managed to" instead of wisten te?
Yes, but it requires a different sentence structure. Lukken takes the activity as the subject and the person as the indirect object. You would say: Ondanks de mist lukte het ons om de vallei met de verrekijker te bekijken. Using weten te lets you keep we as the active subject.
Why is the verb order inverted here (wisten we instead of we wisten)?
Because the main clause starts with the prepositional phrase Ondanks de mist (Despite the fog). In Dutch, whenever a main clause starts with something other than the subject, the conjugated verb and the subject swap places. This rule is called inversion.
Why is verrekijker singular in Dutch when we say "binoculars" (plural) in English?
In Dutch, a pair of binoculars is treated as a single instrument, a verrekijker (literally a "far-looker"). Words for tools or clothing that have two parts often differ in number between the two languages (for example, een schaar for "a pair of scissors" or een broek for "a pair of pants").
What is the difference between using bekijken here versus kijken naar?
While kijken naar just means "looking at" or "watching," bekijken means to view, examine, or take a good look at something as a whole. Because they are using binoculars, they aren't just casting a glance at the valley; they are actively examining it, making bekijken the better choice.
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