Breakdown of Vanwege de pijn moet je je knie om de twee uur strekken.
twee
two
het uur
hour / o'clock
moeten
to have to, must
de pijn
the pain
je
your (unstressed)
vanwege
because of / due to (reason)
om de
every (at intervals)
de knie
the knee
strekken
to stretch
Questions & Answers about Vanwege de pijn moet je je knie om de twee uur strekken.
What does om de mean here, and could I just use elke?
The phrase om de is used to show a recurring interval. When combined with a number and a unit of time, it means "every". So om de twee uur means "every two hours". You can also say elke twee uur, but using om de is a very natural and common alternative in Dutch for these specific intervals.
Why is the word uur singular if it means "two hours"?
In Dutch, certain units of time, measurement, and weight stay singular when they come right after a number. This happens with words like uur (hour), jaar (year), kilo, and meter. That is why we say twee uur instead of twee uren.
Why are there two je's right next to each other in moet je je knie?
This is not a typo! The first je is the subject pronoun meaning "you" (because of inversion, it follows the verb moet). The second je is the possessive pronoun meaning "your" (je knie is "your knee"). This double je je happens often in spoken and written Dutch.
Why does the verb moet come before the subject je?
This happens because of the Dutch word order rule called inversion. The sentence starts with the phrase Vanwege de pijn (Due to the pain). Whenever you start a main clause with something other than the subject, the verb and subject swap places. Therefore, je moet becomes moet je.
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