Breakdown of Je kunt in de wildernis overleven.
in
in
kunnen
can
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
de wildernis
the wilderness
overleven
to survive
Questions & Answers about Je kunt in de wildernis overleven.
Is overleven a separable verb?
No, overleven (to survive) is inseparable. Even though over- is often a separable prefix, with overleven the spoken stress falls on the second part of the word (o-ver-LE-ven). Because it is inseparable, you don't split it in a simple present tense sentence (e.g., Ik overleef, not Ik leef over), and its past participle doesn't get a -ge- in the middle (it is just overleefd).
Can I say Je kan instead of Je kunt in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! For the pronoun je (or jij), both kan and kunt are completely correct and mean the same thing. Je kan sounds slightly more casual and is very common in spoken Dutch, while je kunt is a bit more standard in written Dutch.
Why is overleven placed at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard "verb sandwich" word order for sentences with a modal verb like kunnen (can/to be able to). The conjugated modal verb (kunt) takes the second position, and the main action verb (overleven) gets pushed all the way to the end in its full infinitive form.
How would the word order change if I turned this into an ondanks dat (despite the fact that) clause?
Because ondanks dat is a subordinating conjunction, it forces all verbs to the end of its clause. If you attach this sentence to it, kunt has to move to the end to join overleven. It becomes: Ondanks dat je in de wildernis kunt overleven, ... (Despite the fact that you can survive in the wilderness, ...). You could also put kunt at the very end: ... overleven kunt.
Learn Je kunt in de wildernis overleven and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free