Breakdown of We moeten met z'n allen samenwerken, omdat de puzzel moeilijk is.
zijn
to be
met
with
moeilijk
difficult
moeten
to have to, must
samenwerken
to collaborate / to work together
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
omdat
because (subordinating)
z'n
his / its / one's (unstressed)
de puzzel
the puzzle
allen
all
Questions & Answers about We moeten met z'n allen samenwerken, omdat de puzzel moeilijk is.
Why does the phrase use z'n (his) when the subject is We?
That is exactly what makes this phrase tricky! In modern Dutch, met z'n is a fixed expression used for groups, no matter who the subject is. Even though z'n originally means "his", you use it for we, jullie, or zij. You might occasionally hear people say met ons allen, but met z'n allen is by far the most common and natural choice today.
Does met z'n allen mean exactly the same thing as samen?
They are similar, but met z'n allen specifically emphasizes that absolutely everyone in the group is involved, translating roughly to "all of us together" or "with the whole group". If you only said samen, it would just mean "together", which could imply that only two people out of a larger group are working together.
We already have allen, so why do we also use samenwerken? Isn't that repetitive?
It might feel a bit repetitive when translated literally to English, but in Dutch it is perfectly natural. Met z'n allen describes who is involved (the entire group), while samenwerken (to collaborate or work together) is the specific action they are performing.
Why is the verb is at the very end of the sentence?
The word omdat (because) is a subordinating conjunction, which means it introduces a dependent clause. In Dutch dependent clauses, the conjugated verb is always pushed to the end. That is why it is omdat de puzzel moeilijk is instead of omdat de puzzel is moeilijk.
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