Breakdown of Het is te koud om een vuur aan te steken.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
koud
cold
het
it
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
het vuur
the fire (element, flames)
aansteken
to light
Questions & Answers about Het is te koud om een vuur aan te steken.
Why are there two te words in this sentence?
They have completely different functions here. The first te means 'too' (as in te koud, 'too cold'). The second te is the infinitive marker 'to', which works with om to introduce the action of lighting the fire.
Why is the second te placed right in the middle of aansteken?
aansteken (to light or ignite) is a separable verb. When a separable verb is used in a te + infinitive construction, the te must go directly between the prefix (aan) and the base verb (steken). It is written as three separate words: aan te steken.
Could I leave out om and just say 'te koud een vuur aan te steken'?
No, you need om here. While English just says 'too cold to light', Dutch requires the full om ... te structure after degree phrases like 'too cold' or 'big enough' to link them to the action they affect.
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