Breakdown of Hij zit in het park om zich te focussen.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
in
in
zitten
to sit
het park
the park
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
zich focussen
to focus oneself
Questions & Answers about Hij zit in het park om zich te focussen.
Why is the word zich used in this sentence?
In Dutch, the verb for "to focus" is reflexive: zich focussen. Even though in English we just say "to focus", Dutch requires you to literally say "to focus himself". Since the person doing the focusing is Hij (he), the correct reflexive pronoun is zich.
Why is zich placed before te focussen instead of after it?
In an om ... te (in order to) clause, the action (te focussen) must go at the very end. Any pronouns belonging to that verb, like the reflexive pronoun zich, are placed earlier in the clause. In short phrases like this, it lands right between om and te.
Can I leave out om and just say "Hij zit in het park zich te focussen"?
No, because he is sitting in the park with a specific purpose ("in order to" focus). When expressing a purpose or goal with an infinitive verb, you must use the full om ... te structure in Dutch.
Why does focussen have a double 's' if it comes from the English word "focus"?
Because it has been adopted as a Dutch verb, it must follow Dutch spelling rules! To keep the short 'u' sound from the word "focus" when adding the -en ending, the 's' is doubled to create focussen.
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