Breakdown of Het is moeilijk om het level af te maken.
zijn
to be
het
it
moeilijk
difficult
afmaken
to finish
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
het level
the level (gaming)
Questions & Answers about Het is moeilijk om het level af te maken.
Why is te placed in the middle of afmaken?
Afmaken (to finish) is a separable verb. When you need to use te (to) with a separable verb, it is always inserted between the prefix (af) and the main verb (maken). They are written as three separate words: af te maken.
Why do we use the om ... te structure here?
In Dutch, when you describe an action using 'it is [adjective] to [do something]' (like using moeilijk / difficult), you typically use the om ... te + infinitive structure. It acts like a bridge connecting the description to the action.
Why does het level come before the verbs?
The om ... te construction uses verb-final word order. Just like in the subordinate clauses you have been learning about, all the verbs are pushed to the very end of the sentence. Therefore, the object (het level) is placed before af te maken.
Is level just the English word? How do we know it gets het?
Yes, it is a direct loanword from English, heavily used in gaming contexts. There is no strict rule for the gender of English loanwords, but level is widely accepted as a het word in Dutch, so you just have to memorize het level.
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