Breakdown of De docent spoort de student aan om meer te studeren.
de student
the student
de docent
the teacher
studeren
to study
meer
more
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
aansporen
to urge
Questions & Answers about De docent spoort de student aan om meer te studeren.
How does this sentence form the requested action 'to study more'?
It uses the om ... te construction. When reporting commands or requests with verbs like aansporen (to urge), Dutch uses om + [details] + te + [infinitive]. Here, that gives us om meer te studeren.
Why is the verb for 'urges' split into 'spoort' and 'aan'?
The infinitive is aansporen, which is a separable verb. In a main clause, the core verb (spoort) takes the second position, and the prefix (aan) is pushed to the end of that clause, right before the om ... te phrase begins.
Can I drop 'om' and just use 'te studeren'?
No. While some Dutch verbs only need te + infinitive, reporting a command or request with verbs like vragen (to ask) or aansporen (to urge) requires the full om ... te combination.
Where do extra words like 'meer' go when using this structure?
Any extra details related to the requested action, like the word meer (more), are placed directly between om and te studeren.
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