Breakdown of Zij zijn het oneens omdat hij er niet mee instemt.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
niet
not
zij
they
het
it
omdat
because (subordinating)
er
it (in 'er ... op/mee', pronominal adverb)
instemmen met
to agree with
oneens
disagreeing
Questions & Answers about Zij zijn het oneens omdat hij er niet mee instemt.
Why is er separated from mee by niet?
In Dutch, pronominal adverbs like ermee (meaning "with it" or "to it") are often split. In a subordinate clause like this one (introduced by omdat), the first part (er) goes right after the subject (hij). The second part (mee) goes near the end, just before the verb (instemt). Other words like niet get sandwiched between them.
Why does the first part say zijn het oneens instead of just zijn oneens?
To say "to disagree" in Dutch, you use the fixed expression het oneens zijn. The het is required here as a dummy object, a bit like how we say "calling it quits" in English. You cannot leave het out.
Where does the mee come from if the English translation says "agree to it"?
The verb instemmen (to agree) takes the preposition met (with). In Dutch, when you combine a preposition with het (it), it turns into a pronominal adverb. The preposition met changes its shape to mee, and it attaches to er, forming ermee (which is then split in this sentence).
Why is the separable verb instemt written as one connected word at the end?
instemmen is a separable verb (in + stemmen). In a normal main clause, it splits (for example: hij stemt er niet mee in). But because this is a subordinate clause introduced by omdat, the verbs are pushed to the end of the sentence. When a separable verb goes to the end, its parts reconnect into a single word.
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