Breakdown of Ik zorg ervoor dat de opvoeding niet te streng is.
ik
I
zijn
to be
niet
not
te
too
streng
strict
zorgen voor
to take care of
dat
that (conjunction)
er
it (in 'er ... op/mee', pronominal adverb)
de opvoeding
the upbringing
ervoor
for it; in front of it
Questions & Answers about Ik zorg ervoor dat de opvoeding niet te streng is.
Why do we use ervoor here instead of just voor?
The verb here is zorgen voor (to ensure / to take care of). In Dutch, when a preposition like voor connects to a dat clause, you can't just say "voor dat". Instead, you combine er and the preposition to make ervoor. It acts as a placeholder that points forward to the dat clause.
Why is the preposition voor required here at all?
It comes from the fixed verb combination zorgen voor. While zorgen alone can mean "to worry", zorgen voor means "to take care of" or "to ensure". Because you always need the voor with this verb, it transforms into ervoor when a dat clause follows.
Why is the verb is at the very end of the sentence?
The word dat (that) introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent part of the sentence). As a quick refresher: in Dutch subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the very end. That is why we say ... dat de opvoeding niet te streng is instead of following the English word order.
Does opvoeding mean the same thing as "education"?
Not exactly. While they are closely related, opvoeding specifically refers to a child's "upbringing" or "parenting" (how someone is raised at home). If you want to talk about "education" in the sense of formal schooling, you would use words like onderwijs or opleiding.
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