Breakdown of De hond van mijn broer rent om de rots heen.
de hond
the dog
de broer
the brother
mijn
my
rennen
to run
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
om
around
heen
to / towards (motion away)
de rots
the rock
Questions & Answers about De hond van mijn broer rent om de rots heen.
Why is the word heen at the end of the sentence?
It works together with om to form a two-part preposition (circumposition) om ... heen, which means 'around'. In Dutch, when expressing movement along a path, these two-part prepositions split up and wrap around the object (de rots).
Could I just say rent om de rots without heen?
You technically could, but adding heen makes the path of the movement crystal clear. While om alone can sometimes just indicate a general location, om ... heen strongly emphasizes the active physical movement in a continuous path around the rock.
Does heen always mean 'around'?
No, heen on its own just implies a general direction away from the speaker, similar to 'away' or 'to'. It only means 'around' when it is specifically paired with om. You will also see it paired with other prepositions to show movement, like door ... heen (straight through).
Why use De hond van mijn broer instead of Mijn broers hond?
Both are correct and mean 'My brother's dog'. Using van (literally 'The dog of my brother') is extremely common in everyday spoken Dutch, especially when the person owning the object is described with a phrase rather than just a single name.
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