Questions & Answers about Het reuzenrad is te hoog om naar beneden te kijken.
How does the te ... om ... te structure work in this sentence?
This structure shows that a situation is too extreme to allow another action. First, you have te (too) plus an adjective: te hoog (too high). Then, you use om to start the consequence part, insert your extra details, and finish with te plus the infinitive verb: te kijken (to look).
What is the literal translation of reuzenrad?
It literally means giant wheel. It is a compound word made of reus (giant) and rad (wheel), joined by the connecting letters -en-. This is the standard Dutch word for a Ferris wheel.
Why is it naar beneden instead of just beneden?
In Dutch, beneden by itself just means the fixed location below or downstairs. Because looking involves directing your gaze somewhere, you must use naar (towards) to show the movement or direction: naar beneden (downwards).
Why does naar beneden come before te kijken?
In an om ... te phrase, all the extra details go between om and the final te plus infinitive verb. Here, om starts the phrase, naar beneden is the detail telling you where to look, and te kijken closes the sentence at the very end.