Breakdown of Ik ruim de boekenkast op, mits jij de vloer schoonmaakt.
ik
I
jij
you
opruimen
to tidy up
schoonmaken
to clean
Questions & Answers about Ik ruim de boekenkast op, mits jij de vloer schoonmaakt.
Why is there an -en- in the middle of boekenkast?
Boekenkast is a compound noun made of boek (book) and kast (case). The rule for compound nouns is that if the first word has a plural ending only in -en (like boeken), we use the linking letters -en- (the 'tussen-n') to join them.
Both opruimen and schoonmaken are separable verbs. Why is opruimen split up but schoonmaakt is written as one word?
Opruimen is in the main clause, so it splits: the conjugated verb (ruim) takes the second position, and the prefix (op) moves to the end of that clause. However, mits introduces a subordinate clause, which pushes all verbs to the end. When a separable verb is pushed to the end of a subordinate clause, its prefix and verb stick together (schoonmaakt).
Is mits exactly the same as als?
They are similar, but mits specifically means 'provided that' or 'on the condition that'. It is stronger and slightly more formal than als (if), emphasizing that the first action will only happen if the condition is met.
Why use the emphatic pronoun jij instead of je here?