Breakdown of Ik zet de zware doos rechtop, zodat hij tegen de muur staat.
ik
I
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
staan
to stand
zwaar
heavy / severe (of a punishment) / tough, hard
Questions & Answers about Ik zet de zware doos rechtop, zodat hij tegen de muur staat.
Why do we use zet and staat here instead of leg and ligt?
The verbs zetten and staan are used for things in an upright position, while leggen and liggen are used for things lying flat. Because you are placing the box upright (rechtop), you use the action verb zetten (to put standing). Consequently, the box's resulting state is standing, so we use staan (to stand) in the second half of the sentence.
Why is staat at the very end of the sentence?
The word zodat (so that) introduces a dependent clause. In Dutch, dependent clauses use "verb-final" word order, which means the conjugated verb (staat) gets pushed to the very end of the clause.
Why does the sentence use hij (he) to refer to a box?
Because doos is a de-word (de doos). In Dutch, when you refer back to a singular de-word, you usually use hij, even if it's an inanimate object like a box. You only use het (it) to refer back to het-words.
Why is it zware doos instead of zwaar doos?