Word
Zij ruimt op hoewel ze niets weggooit.
Meaning
She tidies up although she throws nothing away.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Zij ruimt op hoewel ze niets weggooit.
zij
she
opruimen
to tidy up
niets
nothing
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
Questions & Answers about Zij ruimt op hoewel ze niets weggooit.
Why is ruimt op split into two words, but weggooit is written as one word?
This is the core rule for separable verbs in different types of clauses! In a normal main clause like Zij ruimt op, the separable verb splits and the short prefix (op) moves to the end. However, hoewel (although) introduces a subordinate clause. In subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the very end. When a separable verb moves to the end of a clause like this, it does not split; the prefix stays attached, making it a single word: weggooit.
What is the full dictionary form of weggooit?
The infinitive (dictionary form) is weggooien (to throw away). It is a separable verb made of the prefix weg (away) and the base verb gooien (to throw). Because the subject is ze (she), we take the stem of the verb and add a 't' to get gooit, and then keep the prefix attached because it sits at the end of a subordinate clause.
Why does the word niets (nothing) come before the verb?
Because hoewel creates a subordinate clause, the conjugated verb (weggooit) is forced to be the very last word in that part of the sentence. This means any objects, such as niets, must be placed before the verb.
Why does the sentence use Zij at the beginning, but ze later on?