Breakdown of Wij hadden de opdracht gekregen om buiten te wachten.
wij
we
hebben
to have
buiten
outside
wachten
to wait
krijgen
to get (receive)
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
de opdracht
the instruction / the assignment
Questions & Answers about Wij hadden de opdracht gekregen om buiten te wachten.
This lesson is about reported commands. How is the command reported here without using a dat (that) clause?
Instead of using a clause like "He said that we had to wait," this sentence reports the command using a noun, de opdracht (the instruction), followed by an om ... te infinitive phrase. This is a very natural way to report commands and requests in Dutch.
Why do we need the word om before buiten te wachten?
In English you just say "to wait outside". In Dutch, when an infinitive verb phrase tells you the specific content of a noun like de opdracht (the instruction) or het verzoek (the request), you use the om ... te + infinitive structure. Om introduces the phrase, and te goes right before the verb at the end.
Why is gekregen placed in the middle of the sentence instead of at the very end?
Gekregen (received) is actually at the end of its own clause! The main clause is Wij hadden de opdracht gekregen. The conjugated verb hadden is in the second position, pushing the past participle gekregen to the end of that block. The om ... te phrase is a separate piece added on afterward.
Is de opdracht krijgen the standard way to say someone ordered you to do something?
Yes, it is very common. While you could use a direct verb like bevelen (to command), Dutch speakers frequently use the phrase de opdracht krijgen (to receive the assignment/instruction) to express what they were told to do in a slightly more neutral tone.
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