Breakdown of Hij pakt de handdoek en droogt zich af.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
en
and
pakken
to take
zich
oneself
zich afdrogen
to dry oneself
de handdoek
the towel
Questions & Answers about Hij pakt de handdoek en droogt zich af.
Why do we use zich here instead of hem?
Zich is the reflexive pronoun for hij (he), zij (she), and het (it). We use it when the person doing the action is also receiving the action. If we said droogt hem af, it would mean he is drying a different male person, not himself.
Where does the af at the very end of the sentence come from?
It is part of the verb afdrogen (to dry off), which is a separable verb. When you use a separable verb in a basic present tense sentence, the verb splits. The main part (droogt) goes next to the subject, and the little prefix (af) gets pushed to the very end.
Why does zich come before af? Can I say droogt af zich?
No, you have to say droogt zich af. The reflexive pronoun zich acts like an object here, so it belongs right after the verb droogt. The separable part af must go to the very end of the sentence, after everything else.
Is handdoek a combination of two words?
Yes! It is made up of hand (hand) and doek (cloth or wipe). So a handdoek is literally a hand-cloth, which is how you say towel in Dutch.
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