Breakdown of Ik beweeg veel om stress te vermijden.
ik
I
veel
much / many / a lot of
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
bewegen
to move / to exercise (physically)
de stress
the stress
vermijden
to avoid
Questions & Answers about Ik beweeg veel om stress te vermijden.
Why is stress placed between om and te?
In a Dutch purpose clause (meaning "in order to"), you use om at the beginning of the phrase and te plus the infinitive verb at the very end. Any objects or other details, like the word stress, must go in the middle between om and te.
Could I say om te vermijden stress, similar to the English "to avoid stress"?
No, in Dutch, the infinitive verb in an om ... te clause must always go at the very end of the phrase. Putting the object (stress) after the verb is a common mistake for English speakers, but it is grammatically incorrect in Dutch.
Does beweeg just mean "move", or can it mean "exercise"?
Both! While bewegen literally means "to move", Dutch people frequently use it to talk about getting physical exercise in a general, healthy sense, such as walking, cycling, or staying active. If you mean playing a specific sport, you would usually use the verb sporten instead.
Why does veel come before the om ... te part?
Veel (a lot) belongs to the main clause because it describes how much you move (Ik beweeg veel). The om ... te clause is an extra block of information added to the end of the sentence to explain why you do it. The main action and its adverb stay together before the om.
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