Breakdown of Aan welk land grenzen de Filipijnen?
welk
which (for het-words)
het land
the country
de Filipijnen
the Philippines
grenzen aan
to border on
Questions & Answers about Aan welk land grenzen de Filipijnen?
Why is the article de used here, and why is the verb grenzen plural?
In Dutch, geographical names for island groups like de Filipijnen (the Philippines) are grammatically plural. Because the subject is plural, it takes the plural definite article de and requires the plural verb form grenzen.
Why does the sentence start with the preposition Aan?
The Dutch verb for 'to border' is grenzen, and it is always paired with the preposition aan (grenzen aan). When forming a question about the object of that preposition, the preposition goes right before the question word, making Aan welk land (literally 'On which country').
Why does the subject de Filipijnen come at the end of the sentence?
Why do we use welk here instead of welke?
The word land is a neuter noun (het land). When asking 'which' about a singular neuter noun, you must use welk. You only use welke for de-words and all plurals.