Breakdown of Ben je te duizelig om terug naar het hotel te lopen?
zijn
to be
lopen
to walk
naar
to
het hotel
the hotel
te
too
terug
back
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
duizelig
dizzy
Questions & Answers about Ben je te duizelig om terug naar het hotel te lopen?
How does the te ... om ... te pattern work in this sentence?
This sentence uses the structure te + adjective + om ... te + verb, which translates to "too [adjective] to [verb]". Here, te duizelig means "too dizzy" and om ... te lopen means "to walk".
Why is te lopen at the very end instead of right after om?
In Dutch, the om ... te + verb structure wraps around the rest of the information. The word om starts the phrase, but te + the full verb (te lopen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence. All the extra details, like the direction (terug naar het hotel), must go in the middle.
Is terug naar a set phrase?
Yes, just like in English, you can combine terug (back) and naar (to, indicating direction towards a destination) to mean "back to". So, "back to the hotel" translates perfectly as terug naar het hotel.
Why does the sentence start with Ben je instead of Bent je?
To make a yes/no question, the verb and subject swap places. Normally, "you are" is je bent. But there is a special spelling rule in Dutch: when je or jij comes directly after the verb, the verb drops its -t ending. That is why it becomes ben je.
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