Aan wie behoort die motor?

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Breakdown of Aan wie behoort die motor?

• die motor: the car
• wie: whom
• behoort: to belong

Questions & Answers about Aan wie behoort die motor?

Why is it aan wie and not just wie?

Because behoort in this sense is normally used with the preposition aan: behoort aan = belongs to. So when you ask about the owner, you keep aan and say aan wie.

This is similar to formal English To whom does the car belong? Even though everyday English often puts the preposition at the end, Afrikaans usually keeps it before wie.

What exactly does behoort mean here?

Here, behoort means belongs.

A useful warning: behoort can also mean ought to / should in other contexts, for example Jy behoort te gaan = You ought to go. In your sentence, though, it clearly has the ownership meaning because of aan.

Why is the word order Aan wie behoort die motor? instead of something like Aan wie die motor behoort?