Breakdown of Zij wil de houten plank helemaal alleen ophangen.
zij
she
willen
to want
helemaal
completely
alleen
alone; only
Questions & Answers about Zij wil de houten plank helemaal alleen ophangen.
Why does the sentence use alleen instead of zelf here?
Alleen focuses on the fact that she is unaccompanied (without anyone else's help or presence). Zelf would just emphasize that she is the one doing the action rather than having someone else do it. By saying she wants to do it helemaal alleen, it means she wants no one else helping her hold the shelf.
What does the word helemaal add to alleen?
Helemaal means completely or entirely. Adding it to alleen translates perfectly to the English phrase all by herself, making her desire to do it alone much stronger.
Why does the adjective houten end in -en?
Houten is a material adjective, meaning it describes what something is made of (wood). In Dutch, adjectives that describe a material almost always end in -en, regardless of whether the noun is a de word or a het word.
Why is the separable verb ophangen written as a single word at the end of the sentence?
Because this sentence uses the modal verb wil (wants to), the action verb is pushed to the very end of the sentence in its full infinitive form. When a separable verb is in its full infinitive form, the prefix (op) and the base verb (hangen) stay glued together as one word.