Word
De man die ik als mijn mentor beschouw, moet mij helpen.
Meaning
The man I regard as my mentor must help me.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De man die ik als mijn mentor beschouw, moet mij helpen.
ik
I
de man
the man
helpen
to help
mijn
my
Questions & Answers about De man die ik als mijn mentor beschouw, moet mij helpen.
Why do we need als here? Can I just say die ik mijn mentor beschouw like in English 'who I consider my mentor'?
No, you cannot drop als here. With Dutch verbs of categorization like beschouwen (to regard or consider), zien (to see), and ervaren (to experience), the word als is strictly required to introduce the role or category.
Why are there two verbs right next to each other in the middle of the sentence (beschouw, moet)?
The first part of the sentence is the subject and its relative clause: De man die ik als mijn mentor beschouw. Because it is a relative clause, its conjugated verb (beschouw) is pushed to the very end of that clause. However, this entire noun phrase acts as the first position of the main sentence. To follow the Dutch verb-second (V2) rule, the main verb (moet) must come immediately after it, causing the verbs to sit side-by-side.
Could I use the verb zien instead of beschouwen in this sentence?
Yes, zien als is a very common and slightly less formal alternative to beschouwen als. You could perfectly say De man die ik als mijn mentor zie. Both work beautifully for expressing that you regard or see someone as your mentor.
Why do we use die as the relative pronoun here instead of wie ('who')?