Breakdown of We gaan om de drie dagen naar de praktijk voor de zalf.
drie
three
naar
to
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
de dag
the day
Questions & Answers about We gaan om de drie dagen naar de praktijk voor de zalf.
Why is it om de drie dagen instead of elke drie dagen?
To express a recurring interval like "every [number] days/weeks/months", Dutch strongly prefers the phrase om de. While elke drie dagen might be understood, om de drie dagen is the much more natural and standard way to say it.
Doesn't om de dag mean "every other day"? Why does this mean "every three days"?
Good catch! When you use om de with a singular time noun (like om de dag or om de week), it means "every other" (skipping one). However, as soon as you add a number greater than one, like om de drie dagen, it simply means exactly what the number says: "every three days".
Why does the time (om de drie dagen) come before the destination (naar de praktijk)?
This follows the standard Dutch word order rule often remembered as "Time, Manner, Place" (TMP). When building a sentence, expressions of time (om de drie dagen) usually come before expressions of place or destination (naar de praktijk).
Does praktijk here mean "practicing" a skill, like a sport or instrument?