Breakdown of Hij slaapt altijd veel om stress te vermijden.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
veel
much / many / a lot of
altijd
always
slapen
to sleep
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
de stress
the stress
vermijden
to avoid
Questions & Answers about Hij slaapt altijd veel om stress te vermijden.
How does the word order work in the om ... te part of the sentence?
The word om starts the purpose clause, but te and the infinitive verb (vermijden) must be pushed to the very end of the sentence. Any objects or extra information, like stress, are sandwiched in the middle.
Can I translate this literally as "in order to avoid"?
Yes, exactly. While English often shortens this to just "to avoid", om ... te means "in order to". It shows the goal or purpose of sleeping a lot.
Could I leave out om and just say ... stress te vermijden?
No, if you want to express a goal or "in order to", you must include om. Without it, the sentence loses its meaning and sounds incorrect in Dutch.
Why is the word order altijd veel and not veel altijd?
In Dutch, words that indicate time (like altijd) usually come as early as possible in the sentence, right after the main verb. Words describing how much or the degree of the action (like veel) come after the time word.
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