Breakdown of Wij trainen vaak om onze conditie te verbeteren.
wij
we
vaak
often
onze
our (de-words, plurals)
trainen
to train
Questions & Answers about Wij trainen vaak om onze conditie te verbeteren.
How does the om ... te structure work in this sentence?
This structure translates to "in order to". In Dutch, you put om at the beginning of the purpose clause, and te plus the full infinitive verb (verbeteren) at the very end. Any other information, like the object onze conditie, gets sandwiched in between them.
Why can't I just say om te verbeteren onze conditie, following the English word order?
In English we say "to improve our stamina", keeping the verb and object together. But Dutch grammar strictly requires the infinitive verb (verbeteren) to be pushed to the very end of the clause. The object (onze conditie) must come before te.
I thought conditie meant "condition". Why is it translated as "stamina"?
It is a bit of a false friend! While it can mean "condition" (like the state of a car or building), when talking about people, sports, or health, conditie specifically translates to "stamina", "endurance", or "physical fitness".
Why do we use onze instead of ons for "our" here?
Because conditie is a de-word (de conditie). As a quick refresher: in Dutch, you must use onze for plural words and de-words. You only use ons for singular het-words.