Breakdown of Hij kleedt zich aan in de kamer.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
in
in
de kamer
the room
zich
oneself
zich aankleden
to get dressed
Questions & Answers about Hij kleedt zich aan in de kamer.
Why do we need zich here if the English translation is just "gets dressed"?
In Dutch, the verb zich aankleden is a reflexive verb, which means you literally say that he "dresses himself". Zich is the reflexive pronoun for himself, herself, or themselves. Without it, the sentence sounds like he is dressing someone else but you forgot to say who!
Why are kleedt and aan separated in this sentence?
The full verb is aankleden (to get dressed), which is a separable verb. In a normal main sentence, the core verb (kleedt) takes the second position, while the prefix (aan) splits off and moves later in the sentence.
Could aan go at the very end of the sentence, after in de kamer?
Yes! Both Hij kleedt zich aan in de kamer and Hij kleedt zich in de kamer aan are correct. Prepositional phrases that describe a place, like in de kamer (in the room), can usually be placed either right before or right after a separated prefix.
Why is kleedt spelled with "dt"?
The stem of the verb kleden (to dress) is kleed, which already ends in a "d". For the "he" form (hij), the rule is to add a "t" to the stem. This results in the "dt" spelling: kleed + t = kleedt. It is just pronounced as a standard "t" sound.
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