Word
Je smeert de zalf om de drie uur op je schouder, zodat de pijn verdwijnt.
Meaning
You apply the ointment to your shoulder every three hours, so that the pain disappears.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Je smeert de zalf om de drie uur op je schouder, zodat de pijn verdwijnt.
drie
three
op
on
het uur
the hour / o'clock
verdwijnen
to disappear
Questions & Answers about Je smeert de zalf om de drie uur op je schouder, zodat de pijn verdwijnt.
How does om de work to mean "every", and could I just use elke instead?
om de is the standard way to express intervals or distributive frequency in Dutch, following the pattern "om de [number] [unit]". You could technically say elke drie uur or iedere drie uur, but om de drie uur is much more common and natural for describing this kind of repeating interval.
Why is it drie uur instead of the plural drie uren?
In Dutch, certain units of time and measurement—such as uur (hour), jaar (year), and keer (time/occurrence)—stay in the singular form when they are preceded by a specific number, even when that number is greater than one.
I learned that smeren means "to spread" like butter on bread. Is it really the best word for applying medicine?
Yes! While it translates literally to "to smear" or "to spread", smeren is the completely standard, everyday verb the Dutch use for applying sunscreen, lotions, creams, or ointment (zalf) to the skin.
Why does the verb verdwijnt get pushed to the very end of the sentence?
The word zodat (so that) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a sub-clause (zodat de pijn verdwijnt), which triggers "subordinate word order" and forces the conjugated verb to the very end of that clause.