Word
Zij besluiten het doel na te streven en de vaardigheid aan te leren.
Meaning
They decide to pursue the goal and to learn the skill.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Zij besluiten het doel na te streven en de vaardigheid aan te leren.
en
and
zij
they
te
to (infinitive marker)
besluiten
to decide
Questions & Answers about Zij besluiten het doel na te streven en de vaardigheid aan te leren.
How does this sentence demonstrate a shortened clause (beknopte bijzin)?
It replaces a dat-clause because the subject is the same for all verbs. Instead of saying Zij besluiten dat zij het doel nastreven (They decide that they pursue the goal), we drop the second zij and use te + infinitive: het doel na te streven.
Why is te placed in the middle of na te streven and aan te leren?
Both nastreven (to pursue) and aanleren (to learn/acquire) are separable verbs. When using a separable verb in a te + infinitive construction, the word te is placed directly between the separable prefix (na- or aan-) and the base verb. Notice that they are written as three separate words.
Could I leave out the second te and just say 'en de vaardigheid aanleren'?
No, in Dutch you generally must repeat te for every infinitive when you join multiple shortened clauses with en (and). Therefore, you must write aan te leren to match na te streven.
What is the difference between leren and aanleren in this context?