Questions & Answers about Wij twijfelen aan het resultaat.
Why is the word aan in this sentence? English just says "doubt the result".
In Dutch, the verb twijfelen (to doubt) requires the fixed preposition aan when it is followed by a noun. You can think of it as "having doubts about" something. It is a great habit to always memorize this verb together with its preposition: twijfelen aan.
Since this lesson is about te + infinitive, why isn't there a te in this sentence?
The te + infinitive structure is only used to connect a main verb to a second verb (for example, "we try to win"). In this sentence, twijfelen is followed by a noun (het resultaat), not an action. Because there is no second verb, there is no need for te.
If I did want to add a second verb, would I use twijfelen aan te?
No, aan te does not work here. If you want to say you doubt or hesitate to do something, Dutch speakers typically use twijfelen of (to doubt whether) followed by a completely new clause, or they switch to the verb aarzelen (to hesitate), which pairs with om te. Save twijfelen aan purely for nouns!
Could I leave out aan and just say Wij twijfelen het resultaat?
No, that is grammatically incorrect. However, there is a slightly more formal verb, betwijfelen, which works exactly like the English verb and takes no preposition: Wij betwijfelen het resultaat. Even so, twijfelen aan is the much more common and natural way to express this in everyday Dutch.
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