Word
Waarom wiebelen mensen altijd als ze liegen?
Meaning
Why do people always fidget when they lie?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Waarom wiebelen mensen altijd als ze liegen?
altijd
always
waarom
why
de mens
the human / person
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
Questions & Answers about Waarom wiebelen mensen altijd als ze liegen?
"Wiebelen" is translated as "fidget" here. Is it the only word for fidgeting?
No, wiebelen specifically means to wobble, wiggle, or rock back and forth (like someone bouncing their leg or a wobbly table). If someone is fidgeting with their hands, picking at things, or playing with a pen, Dutch speakers typically use friemelen or frunniken.
Could I use wanneer instead of als here?
Yes, in this context wanneer and als are completely interchangeable and both mean "when." Als is slightly more common in everyday spoken Dutch, while wanneer can sound a bit more formal. Just be careful not to use toen, which is reserved for "when" referring to a single event in the past.
Why does altijd come after the subject mensen?
In Dutch sentence structure, subjects (including plural nouns used in a general sense, like mensen here) almost always come before adverbs of time like altijd. If you said Waarom wiebelen altijd mensen, it would sound unnatural because it interrupts the typical order.
Why is there no article before mensen?