Word
De wetenschapper had de stof geanalyseerd, want het is belangrijk om het effect te meten.
Meaning
The scientist had analyzed the substance, because it is important to measure the effect.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De wetenschapper had de stof geanalyseerd, want het is belangrijk om het effect te meten.
zijn
to be
hebben
to have
het
it
want
because
Questions & Answers about De wetenschapper had de stof geanalyseerd, want het is belangrijk om het effect te meten.
Why does the second half of the sentence use het twice (het is belangrijk om het effect te meten)?
The first het is the anticipatory or 'dummy' subject. It acts as a placeholder for the actual subject of the phrase, which is the action of measuring (om het effect te meten). It works just like the English 'it' in 'It is important to...'. The second het is simply the definite article 'the' belonging to the neuter word effect (het effect).
How does the word order work in the om ... te phrase here?
The word om signals the start of the action phrase. Then you place the object being acted upon (het effect), and finally te plus the full infinitive verb (meten) at the very end of the sentence.
Why doesn't the word want (because) push the verb is to the end of the sentence?
Want connects two normal main clauses without changing their word order. If you used the other common word for 'because' (omdat), it would push the verb to the end: ...omdat het belangrijk is om het effect te meten.
Why does the sentence use had... geanalyseerd instead of heeft... geanalyseerd?