Breakdown of Hij vindt het zonde om de danser af te wijzen.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
het
it
vinden
to think / consider (hold an opinion)
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
afwijzen
to reject
de danser
the dancer
zonde
a pity / a shame (a waste)
Questions & Answers about Hij vindt het zonde om de danser af te wijzen.
Why do we need the word het right after vindt?
In this sentence, het is an anticipatory object (voorlopig lijdend voorwerp). It acts as a placeholder. The real thing he finds a shame is the whole action of rejecting the dancer (om de danser af te wijzen). Because that action is a long phrase, we put het next to the verb and put the long phrase at the end.
Could I drop het and just say 'Hij vindt zonde om...'?
No, you cannot drop het here. When you give an opinion about an action using vinden plus a description (like zonde), Dutch grammar requires the placeholder het to link the main verb to the om... te phrase.
I learned that zonde means 'sin'. Why is it translated as 'a shame'?
While zonde literally means 'sin' in religious contexts, in everyday conversational Dutch it is mostly used to mean 'a shame', 'a pity', or 'a waste'. A very common phrase you will hear is wat zonde! (what a shame!).
Why is te sandwiched inside af te wijzen?
The verb for 'to reject' is afwijzen, which is a separable verb (af + wijzen). When a separable verb is used in a te-infinitive construction, the te must be placed exactly between the prefix and the root verb, written as three separate words: af te wijzen.
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