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Breakdown of Tom vraagt of hij even de koptelefoon mag lenen.
Tom
Tom
hij
he
mogen
may
vragen
to ask
of
if
lenen
to borrow
even
for a moment
de koptelefoon
the headphones
Questions & Answers about Tom vraagt of hij even de koptelefoon mag lenen.
What does of do in this sentence, and why is it used instead of dat?
of introduces an indirect yes/no question in Dutch (“Tom asks if…”). You use dat to report statements (“he says that…”), but of is the correct conjunction for indirect questions expecting a yes/no answer.
Why is the verb mag placed at the end of the clause?
In Dutch subordinate clauses (those introduced by words like of), the finite verb goes to the very end. That’s why you see mag after lenen here.
What does even add to the request?
even is a softening adverb meaning “just” or “for a moment.” It makes the request sound more polite and less abrupt.
Why does Tom use mag instead of kan?
mogen asks for permission (“may I borrow…”), whereas kunnen asks about ability (“can I physically borrow…”). Here Tom is politely asking for permission.
Why isn’t there a te before lenen?
After modal verbs like mogen, Dutch uses the bare infinitive without te. So it’s mag lenen, not mag te lenen.
What’s the difference between lenen and uitlenen?
lenen means “to borrow” (you receive something), while uitlenen means “to lend” (you give something). Since Tom wants to borrow the headphones, you use lenen.
Why is koptelefoon singular and introduced by de?
In Dutch, koptelefoon (headphones as one device) is a common-gender noun, so it takes de and is treated as singular.
Could this sentence be phrased with vragen om instead of vragen of?
Yes. You could say:
Tom vraagt om even de koptelefoon te mogen lenen.
That uses vragen om + te-infinitive. Both structures are grammatically correct; the original vragen of + verb-final clause is simply another common way to form an indirect yes/no question.
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