Questions & Answers about Ik betrap hem, maar we laten het erbij.
Why does the second half of the sentence use both het and erbij?
This is a great example of our current lesson! The phrase het erbij laten is a fixed idiom meaning to leave it at that or to let the matter rest. The het acts as a dummy direct object representing the situation, and erbij (literally at it or by it) completes the expression.
Can erbij be split up in this expression?
Yes. Like most pronominal adverbs (combinations of er + a preposition), it will split if you add more information to the middle of the clause. For example, if you wanted to say we leave it at that for today, you would say we laten het er vandaag bij. In our current, shorter sentence, the two parts naturally stay together at the end.
How is betrappen different from other words for catching, like vangen?
Betrappen is used specifically for catching someone in the act of doing something secretive, wrong, or embarrassing. You use vangen for physically catching a flying object or a fleeing animal, like a ball or a mouse.
Why is the word order we laten instead of laten we after maar?
Maar is a coordinating conjunction. Just like en, of, and want, it links two main clauses together without affecting the word order of the second clause. Because of this, we keep the standard subject-verb order (we laten) instead of inverting it.