Breakdown of Hij wil vooral aan hetzelfde toernooi deelnemen voor de gouden medaille.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
willen
to want
voor
for (on behalf of)
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
vooral
especially
gouden
golden
hetzelfde
the same
het toernooi
the tournament
de medaille
the medal
deelnemen aan
to take part in
Questions & Answers about Hij wil vooral aan hetzelfde toernooi deelnemen voor de gouden medaille.
Why is vooral placed right after wil?
Focus adverbs like vooral (especially) typically come right after the finite verb (the conjugated verb, here wil) and any pronouns. It highlights the specific thing he wants to do.
Why is it gouden medaille instead of just goud medaille?
In Dutch, adjectives that describe what something is made of almost always end in -en. So goud (gold) becomes gouden. Other examples are houten (wooden) or zilveren (silver).
Why doesn't the verb deelnemen go at the very end of the sentence?
Normally, the second verb in a sentence gets pushed to the end. However, prepositional phrases (phrases starting with words like voor, in, or aan) can optionally be placed after all the verbs. This makes long sentences sound more natural and prevents too many verbs from piling up.
Why do we use hetzelfde toernooi and not dezelfde toernooi?
Toernooi is a het word (het toernooi). To say 'the same', you must use hetzelfde for singular het words, and dezelfde for de words or plurals.
Why is the word aan used here?
The verb for 'to participate' is deelnemen, and it requires the preposition aan to say what you are participating in. You will almost always see them used together: deelnemen aan.
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