Breakdown of Ik neem om de twee uur tien druppels; desondanks blijft de pijn.
ik
I
twee
two
tien
ten
nemen
to take (general, abstract, e.g., transport, medicine)
het uur
the hour / o'clock
blijven
to stay
de pijn
the pain
desondanks
nevertheless
om de
every (at intervals)
de druppel
the drop
Questions & Answers about Ik neem om de twee uur tien druppels; desondanks blijft de pijn.
How does om de work here, and could I just use elke instead?
Om de is used to express intervals, meaning "every" in the sense of a recurring gap (like "every two hours" or "every third day"). While you might occasionally hear elke twee uur in casual speech, om de is the standard and most natural way to express this kind of frequency in Dutch.
Why is it twee uur instead of the plural twee uren?
In Dutch, specific units of time, weight, and measure usually remain in the singular form when they follow a number. This happens with words like uur (hour), jaar (year), and kilo (kilogram). Therefore, you say twee uur.
What exactly does desondanks mean?
It is an adverb meaning "nevertheless" or "despite that." It is formed from the preposition ondanks (despite) combined with an old genitive form des (of that). You use it to connect two thoughts where the second happens despite the first.
Why is the word order blijft de pijn rather than de pijn blijft?
Because the second clause begins with the adverb desondanks. In a Dutch main clause, the conjugated verb must take the second position (the V2 rule). Since desondanks takes the first position, the verb blijft must come next, pushing the subject de pijn to the third position. This swap is called inversion.
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