Breakdown of Het is moeilijk om het effect van de nieuwe stof te analyseren.
zijn
to be
het
it
nieuw
new
moeilijk
difficult
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
de stof
the substance
analyseren
to analyze
het effect
the effect
Questions & Answers about Het is moeilijk om het effect van de nieuwe stof te analyseren.
Why is the sentence split by om and te?
This is the classic om ... te structure used with a dummy subject. The first part says Het is moeilijk (It is difficult), and the om ... te part explains exactly what "It" refers to. The structure is always om + [extra information] + te + [infinitive verb].
Why is the verb analyseren right at the very end of the sentence?
In an om ... te clause, the infinitive verb always goes at the very end of the phrase, right after te. All the extra details, like het effect van de nieuwe stof, get sandwiched between om and te.
There are two hets in this sentence. Are they doing the same job?
No, they have entirely different jobs! The first Het acts as a placeholder subject meaning "It" (Het is moeilijk = It is difficult). The second het is simply the word "the" for the neuter noun effect (het effect = the effect).
Why does nieuw get an extra -e at the end (nieuwe)?
We add an -e to the adjective because it comes right before the noun stof. Since stof is a de-word (de stof), a regular adjective in front of it gets an -e added to the end.
Does stof just mean "substance"? I thought it meant "dust".
Stof is a very versatile word! Depending on the context, it can mean "dust", "fabric/material", or "substance". In a scientific or analytical context like this sentence, "substance" makes the most sense.
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