Breakdown of Die betweter meent alles beter te weten.
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
weten
to know (a fact)
alles
everything
beter
better
te
to (infinitive marker)
de betweter
the know-it-all (noun)
menen
to claim / to believe (to be true)
Questions & Answers about Die betweter meent alles beter te weten.
How does meent ... te weten work here, and why isn't it translated as 'means to know'?
While menen can sometimes mean 'to mean' (like having an intention or being serious), in this structure (menen + te + infinitive) it specifically means 'to claim' or 'to firmly believe' something about oneself. Here, the know-it-all is making a subjective claim about their own knowledge.
The word betweter looks a lot like beter and weten. Is that how it's formed?
Exactly! It literally translates to 'better-knower'. It is a very common and descriptive Dutch word for a 'know-it-all' or 'smart aleck'. You can see the roots beter (better) and the noun form of weten (to know) combined here.
Why are the words alles beter placed between meent and te weten?
In Dutch, an infinitive clause like te weten gets pushed to the very end of the sentence. The main conjugated verb meent takes the standard second position, and the objects and adverbs associated with the knowing (alles beter) get sandwiched in the middle.
Could I use beweren (to claim) instead of menen here?
Yes, Die betweter beweert alles beter te weten is perfectly natural and means almost exactly the same thing. The slight difference is that beweren strictly means to state or claim something out loud, whereas menen implies the person genuinely believes it in their own mind, whether they vocalize it or not.
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