Breakdown of Welk mankement dan ook, wij betalen terug.
het mankement
the defect / the flaw (shortcoming, failing)
terugbetalen
to refund / to pay back
Questions & Answers about Welk mankement dan ook, wij betalen terug.
How does the structure welk ... dan ook work here?
This sentence uses the pattern [interrogative pronoun] + [noun] + dan ook to express "whichever" or "whatever". By wrapping the question word welk and the phrase dan ook around the noun mankement (defect), it changes the meaning from a simple question to a broad, universal condition.
Why use welk instead of welke?
The interrogative pronoun must agree with the noun's gender. Since mankement is a neuter noun (het mankement), we use the uninflected form welk. If we used a de word like reden (reason), it would be welke reden dan ook.
Why doesn't the first phrase trigger verb inversion? Shouldn't it be "betalen wij terug"?
Excellent question! Usually, starting a sentence with an adverbial phrase forces the verb to swap places with the subject. However, Welk mankement dan ook acts as a standalone, detached phrase here rather than an integrated clause. Because it sits outside the main sentence structure, the main clause simply starts fresh with standard Subject-Verb order (wij betalen).
Why is terug at the very end of the sentence?
It is the prefix of the separable verb terugbetalen (to refund or pay back). In a standard main clause, the conjugated part (betalen) takes the second position, and the separable prefix (terug) is sent to the end.
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