Word
De bioloog wist de walvis vast te leggen.
Meaning
The biologist managed to record the whale.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De bioloog wist de walvis vast te leggen.
de bioloog
the biologist
vastleggen
to capture
de walvis
the whale
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Questions & Answers about De bioloog wist de walvis vast te leggen.
Wait, doesn't weten usually mean to know? Why is it translated as managed to here?
When the verb weten is combined with te and an infinitive, it changes meaning to to manage to or to succeed in doing something. It is a very common and natural way in Dutch to express that someone achieved a challenging task, which is why wist vast te leggen means managed to record.
Why is the word te placed in the middle of vastleggen to make vast te leggen?
Because vastleggen is a separable verb, consisting of the prefix vast and the core verb leggen. Whenever a separable verb is used in a te + infinitive construction, the word te must be sandwiched between the prefix and the verb. They are then written as three separate words: vast te leggen.
I thought vastleggen meant to tie down or to fix. How does it mean to record in this context?
While vastleggen literally means to fix or secure something physically, it is widely used metaphorically for capturing something on media. If you take a photo, record a video, or even finalize a written agreement, you are using vastleggen. In this sentence, the biologist successfully captured the whale on camera or audio.
Could I reorder the sentence and put de walvis at the very end, after vast te leggen?