Hij rent op één been.

Breakdown of Hij rent op één been.

één
one
op
on
rennen
to run
het been
the leg

Questions & Answers about Hij rent op één been.

Why does één have accent marks on the letters?
The accents show that it means the number 'one' rather than the article 'a' or 'an'. Without the accents, een is usually pronounced with a short, relaxed 'uh' sound. With the accents, it is pronounced with a long 'ay' sound, emphasizing that he is running on exactly one leg.
Does been mean 'bone' here?
No, been is a false friend! In Dutch, been means 'leg'. If you want to talk about a bone, you would use the word bot.
Why is the preposition op used in this sentence?
Just like in English ('on one leg'), Dutch uses op (on) to describe standing, balancing, or moving while physically supported by a specific body part.
Since this lesson is about om ... te (in order to), how could we add a purpose clause to this sentence?
You can add an om ... te clause at the end to explain why he is doing this unusual action. For example: Hij rent op één been om te oefenen (He runs on one leg in order to practice) or Hij rent op één been om zijn balans te trainen (He runs on one leg to train his balance).

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