Breakdown of Je moet de kattenbak nu schoonmaken.
nu
now
moeten
to have to, must
schoonmaken
to clean
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
de kattenbak
the litter box
Questions & Answers about Je moet de kattenbak nu schoonmaken.
Why does kattenbak have an -en- in the middle instead of just being katbak?
This is a compound noun made from kat (cat) and bak (box or tray). In Dutch, when the first noun only has a plural form ending in -en (like katten), we usually use the linking letters -en- to connect it to the second noun.
Why is kattenbak spelled with a double t, when the word kat only has one?
This follows the short vowel spelling rule. The a in kat is a short vowel. When we add the linking -en-, we have to double the t to keep the a sounding short. If we wrote katenbak, the a would be pronounced incorrectly as a long vowel.
I learned that schoonmaken (to clean) is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up here?
Separable verbs only split when they act as the conjugated main verb of the sentence. Here, the modal verb moet (must) takes that role in the second position. Because of the modal verb, the action verb (schoonmaken) is pushed to the very end of the sentence and stays together as a full infinitive.
What happens to the word order if I want to emphasize nu (now) by starting the sentence with it?
You would use inversion! If you move nu to the front, the conjugated verb (moet) must still sit in the second position. The subject (je) then flips to the third position, giving you: Nu moet je de kattenbak schoonmaken.
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