Surrounding the object: Circumpositions
When describing physical trajectories—like navigating a winding hiking trail—Dutch often uses circumpositions. A circumposition is a two-part preposition that completely surrounds the noun phrase. The first word tells you the basic position (through, around, over), and the second word at the end emphasizes the motion or the path.
Moving with "heen"
The word heen implies motion or direction. When added to the end of a prepositional phrase, it highlights the continuous path of the movement. It is very common with words like door (through), om (around), and over (over).
- door ... heen: right through
- om ... heen: all the way around
- over ... heen: over and across
| The path goes through the forest. | Het pad loopt door het bos heen. |
| The path goes around the large rock. | Het pad loopt om de grote rots heen. |
| I step over the puddle. | Ik stap over de plas heen. |
You can use these structures for any movement past natural obstacles, whether you are stepping over puddles or crawling through bushes.
| The boy crawls through the green bush. | De jongen kruipt door de groene struik heen. |
Passing underneath with "door"
To describe moving underneath an obstacle and coming out the other side, Dutch pairs onder (under) with door (through) as the second half of the circumposition.
| We crawl under the heavy tree trunk. | Wij kruipen onder de zware boomstam door. |
Emerging with "vandaan"
When the movement originates from a location and comes outward, you will use vandaan (from) at the end of the phrase. You can pair it with prepositions like onder (under) or achter (behind) to describe someone or something emerging from an obstacle.
| The cat crawls from under the bush. | De kat kruipt onder de struik vandaan. |
| She is only now coming from behind the rock. | Zij komt nu pas achter de rots vandaan. |