Breakdown of Probeer het matras aan de zijkant te tillen.
het
it
proberen
to try
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
te
to (infinitive marker)
Questions & Answers about Probeer het matras aan de zijkant te tillen.
Why do we use te tillen instead of just tillen?
When you use the verb proberen (to try) with another verb, you have to use te before the second verb's infinitive. Just like in English where we say 'try to lift', in Dutch you say probeer te tillen.
Does tillen work like the posture verbs leggen and zetten from this lesson?
Yes, in the sense that tillen (to lift) is a transitive verb. This means it requires a direct object, which in this case is het matras (the mattress). You are doing the action to the object, just like when you put it down using leggen (to lay) or zetten (to set).
Is it de matras or het matras? I have seen both.
Both are correct! The word for mattress is one of the few Dutch nouns that can take either de or het as its definite article. You can use whichever one you prefer.
How does aan translate in the phrase aan de zijkant?
In this context, aan means 'by' or 'at'. The phrase aan de zijkant tells you to lift the mattress 'by the side'. Prepositions can be tricky because they do not always translate one-to-one, but aan is often used to show where you make physical contact with an object.