Breakdown of Ik snap dat het moeilijk is.
moeilijk
difficult
snappen
to get it, to understand (informal)
Questions & Answers about Ik snap dat het moeilijk is.
Why is the verb is at the very end of the sentence?
This happens because of the word dat (that). Dat is a subordinating conjunction, which means it introduces a secondary part of the sentence called a dependent clause. In Dutch, dependent clauses use verb-final word order, so the verb is gets pushed all the way to the end.
Is snappen the same as begrijpen?
Yes, both mean to understand. However, snappen is a bit more informal and conversational. It is very similar to saying "to get" in English, whereas begrijpen is the standard "to understand".
Could I leave out the word dat, like how we often say "I get it is difficult" in English?
No, in Dutch you cannot drop the conjunction dat. If you are linking a main clause to a dependent clause like this, you must always include dat.
Why use het here instead of another pronoun?
In this sentence, het acts as a dummy subject. Just like the English word "it" in phrases like "it is raining" or "it is difficult", het does not refer to a specific object or person. It simply fills the subject spot because the clause requires one.
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