Breakdown of De vrachtwagen blokkeerde de weg, wat een enorm obstakel vormde.
een
a/an
de weg
the road
de vrachtwagen
the truck
het obstakel
the obstacle
blokkeren
to block
wat
that / which (relative)
enorm
enormous
vormen
to shape / to form, constitute
Questions & Answers about De vrachtwagen blokkeerde de weg, wat een enorm obstakel vormde.
Why use wat here instead of die or dat for "which"?
In Dutch, when a relative pronoun refers back to an entire preceding clause (the whole situation of the truck blocking the road) rather than to a specific noun, you must use wat. If it referred back to a specific de-word, you would use die, and for a specific het-word, you would use dat.
Why is the verb vormde pushed to the very end of the sentence?
The word wat introduces a relative clause, which is a type of subclause. In Dutch subclauses, all verbs are pushed to the end of the clause.
Could I use was or maakte instead of vormde?
You could definitely use was, but vormde (from vormen, meaning to form or constitute) is a more descriptive B2-level verb. It is commonly used in written or slightly formal Dutch to express that something acts as a problem, exception, or obstacle. Maakte wouldn't work well here unless you rephrased the sentence entirely, for example: wat het een enorm obstakel maakte (which made it a huge obstacle).
Why is the adjective enorm instead of enorme?
Obstakel is a neuter noun (het obstakel). As a quick refresher: adjectives drop the -e ending when they come before a singular neuter noun that is introduced by the indefinite article een (as well as geen, or no article at all).
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