Breakdown of Zij gaat zitten om zich te focussen en elke gedachte los te laten.
zij
she
en
and
zitten
to sit
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
elk
each, every
zich focussen
to focus oneself
de gedachte
the thought
loslaten
to let go
Questions & Answers about Zij gaat zitten om zich te focussen en elke gedachte los te laten.
Why is the reflexive pronoun zich placed immediately after om?
In an om ... te (in order to) clause, the reflexive pronoun is usually placed as early as possible. It steps right in after om, while the te and the infinitive verb (focussen) are pushed to the very end of that phrase.
Why do we use zich here at all? We don't say 'to focus herself' in English.
The Dutch verb zich focussen (to focus) is reflexive, meaning it structurally requires a reflexive pronoun like zich (herself/himself/themselves) to work. Dutch has many verbs that are reflexive even when their English translations are not.
Why does the sentence say gaat zitten for 'sits down' instead of just zij zit?
Zij zit simply means 'she is sitting' (a stationary state). To describe the physical action of changing position to take a seat, Dutch pairs the verb gaan (to go) with the infinitive zitten. Literally, she 'goes sitting'.
Why does the word te split los and laten into los te laten?
The verb for 'to let go' is loslaten, which is a separable verb. Whenever a separable verb is used in a te + infinitive construction, the te always wedges itself exactly between the separable prefix (los) and the base verb (laten).
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