Breakdown of Waarom wiebelen mensen altijd als ze liegen?
altijd
always
waarom
why
de mens
the human / the person
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
als
if / when (condition)
liegen
to lie (tell an untruth)
wiebelen
to fidget
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?
Just like in English, Dutch does not use an article when talking about plural countable nouns in a general, abstract sense. Since this sentence is about people in general rather than a specific group, mensen stands alone without de.
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