This is the 3087th most frequent Dutch word.
degenen
"Those" (referring to people).
In this sentence, 'degenen' serves as a pronoun referring to a specific group of people who want to sit in a particular place. It combines with the relative clause 'die hier willen zitten' to specify which individuals are meant.
Degenen die hier willen zitten, moeten zich melden.
Those who want to sit here must report.
Here, 'degenen' functions as a pronoun indicating a subset of people who have the characteristic of celebrating their birthday. The prepositional phrase 'aan degenen' further identifies the recipients of the presents.
Ik geef de cadeaus aan degenen die jarig zijn.
I give the presents to those who are celebrating their birthday.
In this case, 'degenen' is used to refer to the group of people who fulfill the condition described by the relative clause 'die het goed begrijpen', effectively segmenting the group based on understanding.