Breakdown of Hij was de make-up aan het controleren terwijl zij op de stoel zat.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
zij
she
zitten
to sit
Questions & Answers about Hij was de make-up aan het controleren terwijl zij op de stoel zat.
Why does de make-up come before aan het controleren?
When using the was/waren aan het + infinitive structure to say what someone was doing, the direct object (de make-up) is placed before aan het. It is as if you are saying: He was the makeup at the checking.
Why is zat at the very end of the sentence instead of right after zij?
The word terwijl (while) introduces a subclause. In Dutch subclauses, the conjugated verb (here, zat) gets kicked to the end of the sentence.
Why doesn't the second part say was aan het zitten?
Dutch rarely uses the continuous aan het structure for verbs of posture like sitting, standing, or lying down. The simple past zat (sat) already shows she was in the ongoing state of sitting.
Is make-up a normal Dutch word?
Yes, Dutch borrows many English words. It is spelled with a hyphen, pronounced just like in English, and uses the de article.