Breakdown of Ik ben onafhankelijk en ik verbaas mezelf er vaak over.
ik
I
zijn
to be
en
and
vaak
often
over
about
er
it (in 'er ... op/mee', pronominal adverb)
zich verbazen
to be surprised
onafhankelijk
independent (not dependent, objective)
mezelf
myself (emphatic)
Questions & Answers about Ik ben onafhankelijk en ik verbaas mezelf er vaak over.
Why use mezelf here instead of just the basic reflexive me?
The verb is zich verbazen (to surprise oneself / to be surprised). While ik verbaas me is grammatically correct, adding -zelf creates emphasis. It highlights that the speaker is surprising themselves, which makes perfect sense for the meaning here: I am independent and I surprise myself (of all people) with it.
Where does the "with it" in the English translation come from in the Dutch sentence?
It comes from the combination of er and over. In Dutch, you cannot use a normal pronoun after a preposition when referring to things (you can never say over het). Instead, het becomes er and attaches to the preposition, forming erover (literally "about it").
Why are er and over separated by vaak?
Words like erover (called pronominal adverbs) are very often split in a Dutch sentence. Adverbs of time, frequency, or manner—like vaak (often)—usually step right in between er and the preposition. So instead of erover vaak, the sentence naturally becomes er vaak over.
Why does the Dutch sentence use over when the English translation says "with it"?
In Dutch, verbs have fixed prepositions that often don't match their English counterparts. The standard expression is zich verbazen over (literally "to be surprised about"). You cannot translate "surprise myself with" word-for-word using met (with); you must use over because the verb requires it.
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