Word
Ik ben onafhankelijk en ik verbaas mezelf er vaak over.
Meaning
I am independent and I often surprise myself with it.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
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"?