Breakdown of Voordat ik naar het feest ga, laat ik mijn gezicht reinigen.
ik
I
naar
to
het feest
the party
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
mijn
my
voordat
before
laten
to have (something) done
het gezicht
the face
reinigen
to cleanse
Questions & Answers about Voordat ik naar het feest ga, laat ik mijn gezicht reinigen.
How do laat and reinigen work together here to mean "having my face cleansed"?
The verb laten is often used when you arrange for someone else to do something for you. Just like "to have something done" in English, Dutch uses laten plus the bare infinitive of the action verb. Here, laat ik ... reinigen translates to "I have [my face] cleansed".
Why is it reinigen (to cleanse) rather than a past participle like the English "cleansed"?
While English uses "to have something done" (with a past participle), Dutch uses laten with the infinitive (the full dictionary form) of the verb. You always use the full verb at the end of the sentence, like reinigen, even when the meaning feels passive.
Why does the second half start with laat ik instead of ik laat?
This happens because of the verb-second rule. The entire first clause (Voordat ik naar het feest ga) acts as the first block of information. To keep the main verb in the second position, laat must come immediately after the comma, jumping in front of the subject ik.
Why is the verb ga at the very end of the first clause?
The word voordat (before) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which forces the conjugated verb (ga) all the way to the end of that specific part of the sentence.
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