Breakdown of Ik eet de helft van de appel om af te vallen.
ik
I
eten
to eat
de appel
the apple
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
Questions & Answers about Ik eet de helft van de appel om af te vallen.
Why do we say de helft van instead of just helft van?
In Dutch, helft is a noun, so it usually needs an article. While in English you can just say "half of the apple", in Dutch you literally say "the half of the apple" (de helft van de appel).
What is the difference between de helft and half?
De helft is a noun meaning "the half" or "50%". Half is an adjective. So you can eat de helft van de appel (the half of the apple) or een halve appel (a half apple). Both mean the same thing and are perfectly natural in Dutch!
Why is it om af te vallen and not om te afvallen?
The verb for losing weight is afvallen, which is a separable verb (af + vallen). In an om ... te (in order to) structure, the word te always wedges itself directly between the separable prefix (af) and the base verb (vallen).
Do I need to add a word for "weight" when using afvallen?
No, afvallen on its own means "to lose weight". Even though it literally translates to "to fall off", you don't need to add a word like gewicht (weight) for the meaning to be perfectly clear.