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### Prepositional infinitive clauses

To express *how* you do something, or what you do *without* or *instead of* doing something else, Dutch uses prepositional infinitive clauses. These usually translate to English phrases ending in "-ing".

The standard structure is: **preposition** + [rest of the phrase] + **te** + **infinitive**.

### By doing: door ... te

Use **door** to describe the method or cause (by doing something). Place **te** right in front of the infinitive at the very end of the clause.

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If the infinitive is a separable verb (like *uitzetten*), **te** goes between the prefix and the verb stem, written as three separate words (e.g., *uit te zetten*).

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### Without doing: zonder ... te

To describe performing an action while avoiding another, use **zonder** (without).

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### Instead of doing: in plaats van ... te

When you choose one activity over an alternative, use **in plaats van** (instead of).

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You can put the prepositional clause at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis. When you do, the main clause undergoes inversion (verb before subject).

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Prepositional infinitive clauses (door te, zonder te)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

determiner/pronoun

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular pronouns and 'to be' (ik ben, hij is)

The formal 'you' (u bent)

Definite articles (de, het)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (wij zijn)

The verb 'to have' (hebben)

Basic word order

Numbers 1 to 10 (een, twee, drie)

Verb stems and the 'I' form (ik werk)

Long vowels in verb stems (maken, ik maak)

Short vowels in verb stems (zitten, ik zit)

Present tense singular (-t)

Present tense plural (-en)

Yes/no questions

Question words (wie, wat, waar)

Noun negation (geen)

Plural nouns (-en)

Plural nouns (-s)

Diminutives (-je)

Adjective modifiers (heel, erg, te)

Verb negation (niet)

Singular possessives (mijn, jouw, zijn, haar)

Plural and formal possessives (ons/onze, jullie, hun, uw)

This and these (deze, dit)

That and those (die, dat)

Asking which (welke, welk)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elf, twaalf, dertien...)

Tens and compound numbers (dertig, veertig...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (eerste, tweede...)

Telling time: hours and half hours (uur, half)

Telling time: quarters (kwart over, kwart voor)

Question words (hoeveel, waarom)

Irregular verbs (doen, gaan, staan, zien, komen)

Adjective endings (+e)

Adjectives with 'het' words

Prepositions of place (uit, bij)

Subject-verb inversion

Time before place

Modal verbs (willen, kunnen)

Modal verbs (moeten, mogen)

The verb bracket

Separable prefix verbs

The imperative mood (kom, luister)

Singular object pronouns (mij, jou, hem, haar)

Plural and formal object pronouns (ons, jullie, hen, u)

Reflexive verbs and pronouns (zich, me, je)

Position of negation (niet)

The present perfect tense with regular verbs (hebben gewerkt)

The present perfect tense with motion verbs (zijn gegaan)

Irregular past participles (gezien, gedaan)

The present continuous (zijn aan het)

There is / there are (er is, er zijn)

Unstressed there (er)

And, but, or (en, maar, of)

Because (want)

Months of the year

Prepositions of time (om, van ... tot)

Greetings and politeness

Conversational glue

Prepositions with days (op)

Prepositions with seasons (in)

Genitive of time ('s morgens, 's nachts)

Adverbs of frequency (altijd, vaak)

The future tense (gaan)

The future tense (zullen)

Separable verbs with auxiliary verbs

Apostrophe plurals ('-s)

Irregular plurals (-eren)

Complex diminutives (-pje, -etje, -kje)

Possessive 's (Jan's, vaders)

Indefinite pronouns (iets, niemand, alles)

Indefinite subject pronoun (je)

Reciprocal pronoun (elkaar)

Comparative adjectives (-er dan)

Comparatives with spelling change (-der)

Superlative adjectives (-st)

Irregular comparisons (beter, meer, minder)

Expressing preference (graag, liever, het liefst)

Equality comparisons (even ... als)

Fixed prepositions

That clauses (dat)

Because clauses (omdat)

If and when clauses (als)

Inversion after clauses

Separable verbs in clauses

Negation in clauses (niet)

Past tense of to be (was / waren)

Past tense of to have (had / hadden)

Question	Answer
the app	de app
to check (informal)	checken
You learn a lot by checking this app every day.	Je leert veel door deze app elke dag te checken.
the smartphone	de smartphone
She sleeps better without checking her smartphone.	Zij slaapt beter zonder haar smartphone te checken.
instead of	in plaats van
to scroll	scrollen
offline	offline
Instead of scrolling, I prefer to be offline.	In plaats van te scrollen, ben ik liever offline.
the notification	de melding
You become calm by turning off every notification.	Je wordt rustig door elke melding uit te zetten.
As soon as I am awake, I shower without checking my smartphone.	Zodra ik wakker ben, douch ik zonder mijn smartphone te checken.
We read a book instead of scrolling on this app.	Wij lezen een boek in plaats van op deze app te scrollen.
Not only do I work out, but I also relax by ignoring my smartphone.	Niet alleen sport ik, maar ik ontspan ook door mijn smartphone te negeren.
Instead of checking the news, he was offline.	In plaats van het nieuws te checken, was hij offline.
We walk together without looking at our smartphone.	We wandelen samen zonder op onze smartphone te kijken.
addicted	verslaafd
She is addicted by checking every notification.	Zij is verslaafd door elke melding te checken.
He uses the smartphone without becoming addicted.	Hij gebruikt de smartphone zonder verslaafd te worden.