Breakdown of De bioloog weet naar de wolf te sluipen en hem vast te leggen.
en
and
naar
to
hem
him
te
to (infinitive marker)
weten te
to manage to
de wolf
the wolf
de bioloog
the biologist
vastleggen
to capture
sluipen
to sneak
Questions & Answers about De bioloog weet naar de wolf te sluipen en hem vast te leggen.
How does weet mean "manages" here instead of "knows"?
The construction weten te followed by an infinitive (like sluipen and leggen) is a common idiom. While weten normally means "to know," using weten te + infinitive means to manage, succeed, or figure out how to do something despite difficulties.
Why does te split the word vastleggen into vast te leggen?
The verb for "to record" is vastleggen, which is a separable verb. When a separable verb is used in a te + infinitive construction, the word te is sandwiched between the separable prefix (vast) and the base verb (leggen). They are written as three separate words.
Does the word weet apply to both actions in this sentence?
Yes. Because both actions share the same subject (De bioloog) and the same conjugated auxiliary verb (weet), you do not need to repeat weet after the word en. However, notice that the word te must still be repeated before the second infinitive (vast te leggen).
Why does the sentence use hem (him) to refer to the wolf instead of a word for "it"?
In Dutch, wolf is a de-word (common gender). Pronouns referring back to de-words are typically hij (he) or hem (him), even for animals. You only use het (it) to refer back to het-words.
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