Word
Wat de documentaire betreft, kijkt die lekker weg.
Meaning
Regarding the documentary, it is an easy watch.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Wat de documentaire betreft, kijkt die lekker weg.
lekker
tasty / nicely / pleasantly
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
betreffen
to concern / to regard
wat
that / which (relative)
Questions & Answers about Wat de documentaire betreft, kijkt die lekker weg.
Why does the second clause start with the verb kijkt instead of the subject die?
The entire phrase Wat de documentaire betreft acts as the first position (the topic) of the main sentence. Because Dutch strictly follows the Verb-Second (V2) rule, the conjugated verb kijkt must come immediately after this introductory block, followed by the subject die.
In the first clause, is betreft conjugated to match de documentaire?
No, the subject of that first clause is actually wat (what). Literally, the phrase means "What concerns the documentary". Because wat acts as a singular subject, the verb betreffen (to concern) takes the third-person singular form betreft. This remains true even if you are talking about a plural noun, like Wat de boeken betreft.
Why use die as the subject instead of a regular personal pronoun like hij or het?
Because documentaire is a de-word, you could technically use hij (or zij). However, native speakers frequently use the demonstrative pronoun die (that one) instead of a personal pronoun when referring back to objects or concepts. It sounds much more natural and adds a slight emphasis.
How does the phrase kijkt lekker weg mean "is an easy watch"?