Word
Ik probeer me op het werk te concentreren.
Meaning
I am trying to concentrate on the work.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ik probeer me op het werk te concentreren.
ik
I
het werk
the work
op
on
te
to (infinitive marker)
Questions & Answers about Ik probeer me op het werk te concentreren.
Why is the word me in this sentence? The English translation doesn't say 'myself'.
In Dutch, the verb for 'to concentrate' is zich concentreren (literally: to concentrate oneself). It is a reflexive verb, which means it always needs a reflexive pronoun. Because the subject of the sentence is Ik (I), the matching pronoun is me.
Why is me placed right after probeer, instead of next to concentreren?
In a Dutch main clause, the reflexive pronoun usually comes immediately after the conjugated verb (the verb that changes with the subject). So even though me logically belongs to the verb concentreren, it must sit right behind probeer.
Why do we use te before concentreren?
When you use the verb proberen (to try) together with a second verb, you need the word te before that second verb (the infinitive). It works much like 'to' in the English 'trying to concentrate'. In Dutch, this te + infinitive combination gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why does this sentence use the preposition op?
The verb zich concentreren is used with the preposition op to mean 'concentrate on', just like in English. Interestingly, op het werk is also the standard Dutch phrase for being 'at work' (the location). So depending on the context, this sentence could mean 'trying to concentrate on the work' or 'trying to concentrate while at work'.