Breakdown of Kun je uitleggen waarmee je dit resultaat hebt bereikt?
jij
you
hebben
to have
met
with
kunnen
can
dit
this
het resultaat
the result
wat
what
uitleggen
to explain
bereiken
to achieve
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Questions & Answers about Kun je uitleggen waarmee je dit resultaat hebt bereikt?
What does waarmee mean, and why is it one word?
waarmee is the combination of waar (“what/where”) and the preposition mee (“with”). Together it literally means “with what.” In Dutch, interrogative pronouns and their prepositions are often merged into a single word.
Why does the second part of the sentence end with hebt bereikt, and why aren’t the verbs earlier?
That part is a subordinate clause introduced by waarmee. In Dutch subordinate clauses, all finite verbs (here the auxiliary hebt) and participles (here bereikt) are sent to the end. The order is subject (je), object (dit resultaat), auxiliary (hebt), participle (bereikt).
Why isn’t uitleggen split into uit leggen?
uitleggen is a separable verb, but it only splits when you conjugate it in a main clause without a preceding modal. Since it follows the modal kun, the full infinitive uitleggen stays together immediately after je.
Why do we start with Kun je instead of saying Je kunt?
This is a yes/no question, so Dutch uses inversion: the finite verb (kun) moves to the front and the subject (je) follows. Je kunt would be a statement (“you can”), but Kun je turns it into the question “can you …”.
Can I include an indirect object like “me” in this sentence?
Yes. If you want to explicitly say “Can you explain to me…”, insert me (short for mij) after the subject. For example: Kun je me uitleggen waarmee je dit resultaat hebt bereikt? The rest of the structure stays the same.
Could I use hoe instead of waarmee, and what's the difference?
You can say Kun je uitleggen hoe je dit resultaat hebt bereikt? In that case hoe means “how” in a broad sense. waarmee focuses on the tool or means (“with what”). Use waarmee if you’re asking about the instrument or resource; use hoe if you’re asking about the general method or process.
Why is je used twice in the sentence? Can one of them be dropped?
They belong to two separate clauses. The first je is the subject of the main clause (Kun je uitleggen …), and the second je is the subject of the subordinate clause (… waarmee je dit resultaat hebt bereikt). Each clause in Dutch needs its own explicit subject, so you can’t drop the second one.