Breakdown of Het is makkelijk om het effect te meten, tenzij het laboratorium dicht is.
zijn
to be
het
it
dicht
closed
makkelijk
easy
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
tenzij
unless
het laboratorium
the laboratory
meten
to measure
het effect
the effect
Questions & Answers about Het is makkelijk om het effect te meten, tenzij het laboratorium dicht is.
Why are there three hets in this sentence, and what does the first one do?
The first het is a "dummy subject" (meaning "it"). It acts as a placeholder subject for is makkelijk, pointing forward to the actual action: om het effect te meten (to measure the effect). The second and third hets are just the definite article "the" for the neuter nouns effect and laboratorium.
How does the om ... te structure work in this sentence?
The om ... te structure translates to "to" or "in order to". When you have an adjective like makkelijk (easy) describing an action, you wrap that action in an om ... te clause. Om marks the beginning of the phrase, and te sits right in front of the infinitive verb at the end: om het effect te meten.
Why is the verb is at the very end of the sentence?
Because of the word tenzij (unless). Tenzij is a subordinating conjunction, which means it introduces a dependent clause. In Dutch dependent clauses, the conjugated verb gets pushed to the very end. That is why it is ...tenzij het laboratorium dicht is instead of ...tenzij het laboratorium is dicht.
Can I use gesloten instead of dicht?
Yes, absolutely! Both dicht and gesloten mean "closed". They are interchangeable in this context, though dicht is slightly shorter and very common in everyday speech.
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