Breakdown of Ik heb tijd nodig om me op mijn ademhaling te focussen.
ik
I
hebben
to have
de tijd
the time
op
on
nodig
needed
mijn
my
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
zich focussen
to focus oneself
de ademhaling
the breathing
Questions & Answers about Ik heb tijd nodig om me op mijn ademhaling te focussen.
Why is the reflexive pronoun me used here instead of zich?
Even though the dictionary form of the verb is zich focussen, the reflexive pronoun in an om ... te clause must match the implied person doing the action. Since Ik (I) am the one focusing, the pronoun changes to me.
Why does me come right after om instead of right before the verb?
In an om ... te clause, short pronouns like me usually jump to the front, right after om. They prefer to be as early in the clause as possible, pushing prepositional phrases like op mijn ademhaling further back.
Is op always the preposition used with focussen?
Yes! Just like in English where you focus on something, the Dutch verb zich focussen is paired with the preposition op. Prepositions often differ between languages, but this one translates directly.
Why are heb and nodig separated by the word tijd?
The Dutch phrase for to need is nodig hebben. In a main clause, the conjugated verb (heb) takes the second position, while nodig gets pushed to the end of that section, wrapping around the object tijd.
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