Breakdown of Je moet een vuur aansteken tegen de kou.
een
a/an
moeten
to have to, must
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
tegen
against / to (speaking to)
de kou
the cold
het vuur
the fire (element, flames)
aansteken
to light
Questions & Answers about Je moet een vuur aansteken tegen de kou.
Why is tegen de kou placed after the verb aansteken? Doesn't the verb have to go at the very end?
Normally, a modal verb like moet pushes the main verb (aansteken) to the end of the clause. However, prepositional phrases (phrases starting with words like in, on, or tegen) can often be placed after the final verb. You can absolutely say Je moet een vuur tegen de kou aansteken, but placing the prepositional phrase at the very end is very common and sounds a bit more relaxed.
Aansteken is a separable verb. Why isn't it separated in this sentence?
Because of the modal verb moet. Modal verbs require the main action verb in the sentence to be a full infinitive (the dictionary form). When a separable verb is used in its full infinitive form, the prefix (aan) and the base verb (steken) stay attached as a single word: aansteken.
Why is it de kou instead of de koud?
Kou is the noun for "the cold" (the temperature or weather). Koud with a d is the adjective (as in Het is koud - It is cold). Since we need a noun here after the article de, we use kou.
We usually say "light a fire for the cold" in English. Is tegen always used this way in Dutch?
Yes! Tegen literally means "against". In Dutch, when you take preventative measures or protect yourself from the weather, a disease, or an inconvenience, you act against it. So you wear a coat tegen de regen (against the rain), take a pill tegen de hoofdpijn (for/against the headache), and light a fire tegen de kou.
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