Breakdown of Hij schaamt zich voor de fout.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
de fout
the mistake
zich schamen voor
to be ashamed of
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Questions & Answers about Hij schaamt zich voor de fout.
Why does this sentence use voor instead of a word that literally means 'of'?
In Dutch, the verb zich schamen (to be ashamed) always takes the fixed preposition voor. Prepositions often don't translate directly between English and Dutch, so you cannot use van (of) here. It is best to memorize the whole combination: zich schamen voor.
What is the word zich doing here?
Zich is a reflexive pronoun meaning 'himself' (or herself/itself). The full Dutch verb is zich schamen, which literally means 'to shame oneself'. While in English you simply say 'he is ashamed', a Dutch speaker says 'he shames himself'.
Is zich schamen voor similar to how you say 'afraid of' in Dutch?
Yes! Just like bang zijn voor (to be afraid of), zich schamen voor uses voor where English uses 'of'. Voor is frequently the fixed preposition used for things we fear, hide from, or feel embarrassed about.
Why is the verb spelled schaamt with a 't' at the end?
Because the subject is hij (he). To conjugate regular verbs for hij, you take the stem of the verb (schaam) and add a -t. The reflexive pronoun zich then drops into its normal place directly after the conjugated verb.