Breakdown of Waarom blijf jij de bomen snoeien?
jij
you
de boom
the tree
waarom
why
blijven
to stay
snoeien
to prune
Questions & Answers about Waarom blijf jij de bomen snoeien?
How do we get "keep pruning" from blijf and snoeien?
The verb blijven literally means "to stay" or "to remain". However, when you use it with a second verb in its full form (the infinitive), it changes to mean "keep doing" that action. Here, blijf pairs with snoeien to mean "keep pruning".
Why is snoeien pushed all the way to the end of the sentence?
In Dutch, when a sentence has two verbs, they split up. The main conjugated verb (blijf) stays near the beginning, right after the question word Waarom. The second verb (snoeien) is always pushed to the very end of the sentence, placing the object (de bomen) between them.
Why doesn't blijf have a -t at the end? Doesn't the jij form usually end in -t?
Normally, it does! You would say jij blijft. But in questions where the verb comes before jij or je (a rule called inversion), that -t is dropped. That is why it is blijf jij.
Can I translate "keep" using a different Dutch word like houden?
No, you cannot use houden (to hold/keep) for continuous actions in Dutch. While English uses the same word for "keeping a secret" and "keeping busy", Dutch requires the blijven + infinitive structure whenever you mean "to continue doing something".
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