Breakdown of Hij besluit de uitdaging te accepteren.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
accepteren
to accept
te
to (infinitive marker)
besluiten
to decide
Questions & Answers about Hij besluit de uitdaging te accepteren.
Why is te accepteren at the very end of the sentence instead of right after besluit?
In Dutch, the te + infinitive structure is pushed to the end of the clause. While in English you keep the verbs together and say 'decides to accept the challenge', Dutch places the object in the middle. This results in the word order: 'decides the challenge to accept' (besluit de uitdaging te accepteren).
Why do we need to use te here at all?
The use of te depends on the main verb of the sentence. The verb besluiten (to decide) requires te before the second verb. This is exactly like the other verbs in this lesson, such as proberen (to try) and beginnen (to begin), which all trigger this te + infinitive pattern.
If I wanted to use a verb like willen (to want), would I still use te?
No, and that is an important difference to remember! Modal verbs like willen, kunnen (can), and moeten (must) also send the second verb to the end, but they never use te. For example, 'He wants to accept the challenge' is simply Hij wil de uitdaging accepteren.
What is the origin of the word uitdaging?