Breakdown of Zij wil reizen, en de tas is daar onmisbaar voor.
zijn
to be
zij
she
en
and
daar
there
de tas
the bag
willen
to want
voor
for (on behalf of)
reizen
to travel
onmisbaar
indispensable
Questions & Answers about Zij wil reizen, en de tas is daar onmisbaar voor.
Why are daar and voor separated in this sentence?
In Dutch, pronominal adverbs like daarvoor (for that) are very often split. The first part (daar) acts like a placeholder for the object and sits earlier in the sentence, while the preposition part (voor) is pushed toward the end of the clause. Instead of is daarvoor onmisbaar, it becomes is daar onmisbaar voor.
Could I keep daarvoor together instead of splitting it?
Yes, you can keep it together, but it would be placed before the adjective: en de tas is daarvoor onmisbaar. However, splitting it (daar onmisbaar voor) sounds much more natural and is what you will hear most often in everyday Dutch. Putting it at the very end of the sentence (onmisbaar daarvoor) sounds unnatural and is generally avoided.
How do I know to use voor as the preposition here?
The preposition is determined by the adjective onmisbaar (indispensable). Just like in English you say "indispensable for something", in Dutch the fixed combination is onmisbaar voor iets. Because we are referring back to the idea of traveling ("indispensable for that"), it becomes daar + voor.
Why doesn't the verb is move to the end of the sentence after en?
En (and) is a coordinating conjunction (just like maar, of, and want). These words simply link two independent main clauses together like a bridge, meaning the word order in the second clause doesn't change. The verb is safely stays in the normal second position right after the subject de tas.
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