Breakdown of Ken je mijn buurman? Die werkt in de stad.
werken
to work
in
in
de stad
the city
kennen
to know
mijn
my
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
de buurman
the neighbor (male)
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
Questions & Answers about Ken je mijn buurman? Die werkt in de stad.
Why use ken instead of weet for "know"?
In Dutch, kennen means to be familiar with a person, place, or thing. Because you are asking about knowing a person (mijn buurman), you use kennen. The verb weten is only used for knowing facts or information.
Why does the second sentence use Die instead of Hij to mean "He"?
While die literally means "that" or "that one", Dutch speakers often use it instead of hij (he) or zij (she) in casual conversations. It points back strongly to the person just mentioned in the previous sentence.
If the neighbor is a woman, how does this sentence change?
You would use the word buurvrouw instead of buurman. The second sentence can stay exactly the same, because die works as a pointing word for both male and female words.
What is the word order rule for Die werkt in de stad?
This is a standard main clause where the conjugated verb must be in the second position. The pronoun Die acts as the subject and takes the first position, so the verb werkt comes immediately after it.
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