Learn Dutch: Zij onderbreekt de discussie, hoewel we er stiekem mee doorgaan. - She interrupts the discussion, although we secretly continue with it.

The words er and mee form the pronominal adverb ermee (meaning "with it"). In subordinate clauses, it is very common to split these adverbs. The first part (er) comes early in the clause, while the preposition part (mee) is placed just before the verbs at the end. Other adverbs, like stiekem (secretly), usually sit directly between them.

Why does the second clause end with doorgaan instead of gaan door?

The word hoewel (although) introduces a subordinate clause, which pushes the verbs to the end of the sentence. Doorgaan (to continue) is a separable verb, but when a separable verb is pushed to the end of a subordinate clause, its prefix (door) and the verb (gaan) reunite and are written as a single word.

Why do we use mee here instead of met for the word "with"?

In Dutch, the preposition met changes to mee when it connects with words like er, hier, or daar to form a pronominal adverb. Therefore, "with it" translates to ermee (or split into er ... mee), and never ermet.

Why doesn't the verb onderbreekt split into in the main clause?