Breakdown of De kaart laat zien welke steden in het oosten van het land liggen.
in
in
liggen
to lie
van
of
de stad
the city
laten zien
to show
het land
the country
welke
which
het oosten
the east
de kaart
the map
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Questions & Answers about De kaart laat zien welke steden in het oosten van het land liggen.
What is the function of welke in this sentence?
welke here is an interrogative pronoun introducing an indirect question (“which cities … lie”). The entire clause welke steden in het oosten van het land liggen functions as the direct object of laat zien. It’s equivalent to English “which” in “shows which cities ….”
Why does liggen appear at the end of the sentence?
Because this is a subordinate clause introduced by welke. In Dutch subordinate clauses (those introduced by conjunctions or question words), the finite verb (here liggen) moves to the very end.
What exactly is laten zien, and why is it two words?
laten zien is a light-verb construction meaning “to show.” laten is a catenative (or light) verb that combines with a bare infinitive (zien). It is not a separable-prefix verb, so you always write it as two words.
Could I replace laat zien with a single verb?
Yes. You could say De kaart toont welke steden … liggen. tonen (“to show”) is a single-word alternative, slightly more formal.
What’s the difference between using welke steden … liggen and de steden die … liggen?
- welke steden … liggen is an indirect question: “which cities lie…?” It implies you don’t yet know the set of cities.
- de steden die … liggen is a relative clause: “the cities that lie…” It refers to a known group of cities and gives additional information about them.
Why do we say in het oosten van het land instead of in oosten land?
- het oosten: cardinal directions used as nouns require the definite article het (e.g. het zuiden, het westen).
- van het land: “of the country” links the direction to the country. You need van to express “the east of the country.”
Why is there in before het oosten? Could we use another preposition?
When describing something’s location within a region or area, Dutch uses in (just like English). You say in het oosten, in het zuiden, in de stad, etc. Other prepositions (like aan “on/at”) would change the meaning.
Why is the article de used before kaart?
Dutch nouns are either de-words (common gender) or het-words (neuter gender). kaart is a common-gender noun, so it takes de. There’s no rule based on meaning alone—you just have to learn each noun’s gender.