Questions & Answers about Wij proberen snel een datum af te spreken.
Why is te in the middle of afspreken to make af te spreken?
Afspreken is a separable verb, made of the prefix af and the verb spreken. When a separable verb needs te ("to") before it, the te squeezes right between the prefix and the verb. In writing, they are separated by spaces: af te spreken.
Why is af te spreken placed at the very end of the sentence?
In a te clause, the infinitive verb (with te) always goes at the very end. The main verb proberen (to try) stays in the normal second position, and all the extra details like snel een datum (quickly a date) must come before the te verb at the end.
I learned about om ... te clauses. Why is there no om in this sentence?
With the verb proberen (to try), adding om is optional. You can use just te, as in this sentence, or you can add om after the main verb: Wij proberen om snel een datum af te spreken. Both are perfectly correct and mean the same thing.
Does afspreken just mean "to agree"?