Breakdown of Het schijnt dat ze het erover hebben.
hebben
to have
het
it
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
dat
that (conjunction)
schijnen
to seem / be said to (hearsay)
erover
about it
Questions & Answers about Het schijnt dat ze het erover hebben.
Why do we need both het and erover in this sentence?
Why does het come before erover?
The unstressed pronoun het always prefers to sit as early as possible in the middle part of the sentence. Because of this, it naturally places itself directly after the subject (ze) and before the pronominal adverb erover.
Why is the verb hebben placed at the very end?
The word dat introduces a subordinate clause (dat ze het erover hebben). As a refresher from earlier lessons, Dutch subordinate clauses push the conjugated verb to the end, which is why hebben must come after the objects het and erover.
Does schijnt here have anything to do with shining?
The verb schijnen literally means "to shine", but it also has a frequent secondary meaning: "to seem" or "to appear". The phrase het schijnt dat is a highly common expression meaning "it seems that", "apparently", or "word has it that".
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