Breakdown of Bedenk of zulke wezens echt kunnen bestaan en probeer hun eigenschappen in andere woorden te omschrijven.
Questions & Answers about Bedenk of zulke wezens echt kunnen bestaan en probeer hun eigenschappen in andere woorden te omschrijven.
Bedenk and probeer are imperatives (commands/instructions). This is the form you typically see in textbook tasks or assignment prompts:
- Bedenk = Think of / Consider / Imagine (command to one person)
- Probeer = Try (command to one person)
If you were addressing someone formally (u), you might see Bedenkt u … / Probeert u …. For plural/you-all, you can also see Bedenk(ken) / Probeer depending on context, but the most common instruction style is simply the bare imperative.
No—Dutch of here means whether / if (introducing an indirect yes/no question).
So Bedenk of zulke wezens echt kunnen bestaan = Consider whether such creatures can really exist.
Dutch of can sometimes correspond to English or as well, but in this structure after a thinking/asking verb, it’s usually whether/if.
Dutch puts infinitives at the end of the clause. With a modal verb like kunnen, you typically get a verb cluster at the end:
- kunnen bestaan = can exist
So the core pattern is:
(subject) + (other elements) + (modal) + (infinitive)
Here the subject is zulke wezens, then you get echt, then the verb cluster kunnen bestaan.
zulke means such (as in “such creatures”).
In modern Dutch, the common attributive form before a plural noun is zulke:
- zulke wezens = such creatures
- zulk wezen (singular, more formal/old-fashioned sounding) can exist, but learners will most often need zulke.
wezens is the plural of wezen. It means beings/creatures. It’s fairly general and can refer to humans, animals, aliens, fantasy creatures, etc., depending on context.
Here echt functions like an adverb meaning really / actually / genuinely:
- echt kunnen bestaan = really can exist
Dutch echt can also be an adjective meaning real (e.g., een echt probleem = a real problem), but in this sentence it’s modifying the verb idea kunnen bestaan.
Because this is a simple coordination of two imperatives with en:
- Bedenk … en probeer …
In Dutch (like in English), you normally don’t put a comma before en unless you have a special reason (e.g., separating longer clauses for clarity, or certain stylistic choices). In short instruction sentences like this, no comma is standard.
This is the very common pattern: proberen + infinitive with te.
- probeer … te omschrijven = try to describe / try to rephrase
So te omschrijven is an infinitive phrase dependent on probeer. Dutch uses te in many “to + verb” situations, especially after verbs like proberen, beginnen, vergeten, etc.
Yes, it’s basically the same idea: in other words / using different wording.
In this sentence it’s not introducing a new sentence like English “In other words, …”; it’s describing how you should describe them:
- probeer … in andere woorden te omschrijven = try to describe them using different words
Because wezens is plural, the possessive pronoun is hun = their.
- hun eigenschappen = their properties/characteristics
de eigenschappen van hen is possible but heavier and less natural here. Also, hun is used regardless of gender because it’s plural.