Breakdown of Wie de vos vertrouwt, gelooft een leugenaar.
een
a/an
wie
who
geloven
to believe
vertrouwen
to trust
de vos
the fox
de leugenaar
the liar
Questions & Answers about Wie de vos vertrouwt, gelooft een leugenaar.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb gelooft?
The entire first clause, Wie de vos vertrouwt, acts as a single block occupying the first position in the overall sentence. Because Dutch uses the verb-second (V2) rule, the main verb gelooft must come immediately after this clause in position two.
Could Wie de vos vertrouwt also mean "Whoever the fox trusts"?
Technically, yes! Both Wie and de vos can function as either the subject or the object, so grammar alone doesn't rule out the fox doing the trusting. However, in Dutch, the subject is almost always placed before the object. Standard word order and common sense tell us it means "Whoever trusts the fox."
Why is the verb vertrouwt placed at the end of the first clause?
A free relative clause starting with wie or wat functions as a subordinate clause. This means it triggers subordinate word order, pushing the conjugated verb vertrouwt to the very end of that clause, right before the comma.
Could I say Degene die de vos vertrouwt instead of just Wie?
Yes, absolutely. Degene die (the one who) means exactly the same thing here. Using just Wie as an independent subject is a more concise and elegant way to say "whoever" or "he who," which is why it is often used in proverbs and general statements like this one.
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