Learn Dutch: De man zit de duif te voeren. - The man is sitting and feeding the pigeon.

Using zit te voeren emphasizes that the action is happening right now in a continuous way. While De man voert de duif simply means "The man feeds the pigeon," adding zit te paints a vivid picture that he is actively busy doing it at this exact moment.

Why does de duif come between zit and te voeren?

In Dutch, the two parts of this continuous structure split up to make room for the object. The main conjugated verb (zit) takes the normal second position in the sentence, but the te + infinitive part (te voeren) is pushed all the way to the end. Therefore, the object (de duif) goes in the middle.

Does the man actually have to be physically sitting down?

Yes! In English, you might just say "he is feeding the pigeon" regardless of his posture. But in Dutch, if you use zit te, the person must be physically sitting. If he were standing, you would say staat te voeren instead.

Can I use the verb voeren for feeding a person, like a baby?

Usually not. The verb voeren is almost always used for feeding animals, like the pigeon in this sentence. If you want to talk about feeding a person, you typically use the phrase te eten geven (literally: to give to eat).