Breakdown of Stel dat we wat mooie kandelaars vinden tijdens het snuffelen?
vinden
to find
mooi
beautiful
het
it
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
wat
something / some (a little)
tijdens
during
stel dat
suppose that / imagine that
de kandelaar
the candlestick
snuffelen
to rummage
Questions & Answers about Stel dat we wat mooie kandelaars vinden tijdens het snuffelen?
I thought wat was only for uncountable things like water or time. Can we use it with plural nouns like kandelaars?
Yes! While you probably first learned wat for uncountable nouns (like wat water for "some water"), it is also very commonly used with plural countable nouns to mean "some" or "a few". Here, wat mooie kandelaars means "a few beautiful candlesticks". It functions just like the phrase een paar.
Why does mooie get an -e ending here?
When an adjective comes before a plural noun like kandelaars, it always gets the -e ending. It doesn't matter if the singular noun is a de or het word, or what kind of determiner comes before it. Since wat acts as the determiner here for a plural noun, mooi becomes mooie.
Why is the verb vinden placed where it is, rather than right after the subject we?
The phrase stel dat ("suppose that") uses the word dat, which introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb (vinden) is pushed to the end of the clause. The prepositional phrase tijdens het snuffelen is tacked onto the end as extra information, which is a common and natural exception to the strict "verb at the end" rule.
I learned that snuffelen means "to sniff". How does it mean "rummaging" here?
You're right that snuffelen literally means to sniff around, like a dog. In Dutch, this verb is also used figuratively for browsing or rummaging through things, especially when hunting for hidden treasures at a thrift store or flea market (which the Dutch even call a snuffelmarkt). By adding het, the verb is turned into a noun meaning "the rummaging" or "the browsing".
Learn Stel dat we wat mooie kandelaars vinden tijdens het snuffelen and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free