Breakdown of Zij heeft geen tijd om nu een kamer te dweilen.
zij
she
een
a/an
nu
now
hebben
to have
de tijd
the time
geen
no / not any
de kamer
the room
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
dweilen
to mop
Questions & Answers about Zij heeft geen tijd om nu een kamer te dweilen.
Why does nu come before een kamer?
This follows the rule for word order in the middle of a Dutch clause. Because een kamer (a room) is an indefinite direct object (it uses een instead of de), it must come after adverbs of time, manner, or place. Therefore, the time adverb nu (now) has to come first.
How would the sentence change if she had no time to mop the room instead of a room?
If the object were definite (de kamer), it would jump in front of the time adverb nu. The end of the sentence would change to: ...om de kamer nu te dweilen.
What is the purpose of om and te in this sentence?
They form an om ... te + infinitive construction, which means "to" or "in order to." Here, it links the main idea (Zij heeft geen tijd) with the action she doesn't have time for (dweilen). Notice that all the extra details for that action (nu een kamer) get placed between om and te.
Could I say Zij heeft niet tijd?
No, that would be incorrect. A good rule of thumb to remember from earlier lessons is that you must use geen (not a / no) to negate an indefinite noun (a noun without "the" or a possessive like "my"). When you mean "not having time" in English, you must translate it as having "no time" (geen tijd) in Dutch.
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