Breakdown of Mijn zus laat haar gezicht reinigen.
de zus
the sister
mijn
my
haar
her
laten
to have (something) done
Questions & Answers about Mijn zus laat haar gezicht reinigen.
Why translate laat as "is having" instead of "lets"?
The verb laten can mean "to let" (to give permission), but it is also used to show that you arrange for someone else to do something for you. In English, we say "to have something done." Here, the sister isn't washing her own face; she is having a professional do it.
Why does Dutch use the infinitive reinigen instead of a past participle like "cleansed"?
When you use laten to express having something done, the second verb must always be the full bare infinitive (the dictionary form). While English says "have her face cleansed" using a past tense form, Dutch essentially says "let her face cleanse."
Why is reinigen placed at the very end of the sentence?
This is a great refresher on standard Dutch word order. When a sentence has two verbs, the conjugated verb (laat) takes the second position in the sentence, and the infinitive verb (reinigen) gets pushed all the way to the end.
Could I say schoonmaken instead of reinigen here?
You would be understood, but reinigen sounds much more natural in this context. Schoonmaken is the everyday word for cleaning things like your house, your car, or the dishes. Reinigen is used for purifying or cleansing, which is the standard term in Dutch for skincare.