Continuous Action: Blijven + Infinitive
In Dutch, the verb blijven (to stay/remain) combined with an infinitive expresses that an action is continuous or uninterrupted. This is how you say that someone "keeps doing" something.
Conjugate blijven and place the main action verb as an infinitive at the very end of the clause.
| The neighbor keeps pruning that tree. | De buurman blijft die boom snoeien. |
| It keeps raining, so the soil is very wet. | Het blijft regenen, dus de aarde is heel nat. |
Using Blijven with Modal Verbs
When using a modal verb like moeten (must) or mogen (may), the modal takes the conjugated second position. Both blijven and the action verb move to the end of the clause as infinitives.
| You may keep planting those flowers. | Je mag die bloemen blijven planten. |
Subordinate Clauses
In subordinate clauses (like those starting with dat), the conjugated form of blijven and the infinitive group together at the end.
| We see that the plant keeps climbing. | Wij zien dat de plant blijft klimmen. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io