Word
De foto is heel verwarrend en we weten het antwoord niet.
Meaning
The photo is very confusing and we do not know the answer.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De foto is heel verwarrend en we weten het antwoord niet.
zijn
to be
en
and
niet
not
het antwoord
the answer
Questions & Answers about De foto is heel verwarrend en we weten het antwoord niet.
Can we say we zijn het antwoord niet aan het weten to emphasize that we don't know it right at this moment?
No, you cannot. This lesson focuses on the fact that cognitive verbs like weten (to know) describe a state of mind, not an ongoing physical action. Therefore, they are incompatible with the continuous aan het construction. You must simply use the simple present: we weten.
Why is weten used here instead of kennen?
We use weten because we are talking about knowing a fact or a piece of information. You use kennen when you are familiar with a person, place, or thing. Even though het antwoord (the answer) is a noun, knowing an answer is considered knowing a fact, so weten is required.
Why does niet come at the very end of the sentence instead of right after the verb?
In the clause we weten het antwoord niet, the direct object is het antwoord. Because it has the definite article het, it is a specific direct object. The rule for niet is that it must be placed after specific direct objects, which pushes it to the end of this sentence.
Is verwarrend related to a verb?