Breakdown of Iets slims doet me altijd aan mijn eigen geheugen denken.
altijd
always
mijn
my
iets
something
me
me (unstressed form of mij)
Questions & Answers about Iets slims doet me altijd aan mijn eigen geheugen denken.
Why is doet used here instead of laat to mean 'makes'?
In Dutch, doen is used as a causative verb to mean 'makes' when it triggers an involuntary, emotional, or psychological reaction. This is almost always the case when an inanimate subject, like iets slims (something smart), causes the feeling. If a person were actively delegating a task or giving permission, you would use laten.
Why does slim have an -s at the end in iets slims?
When an adjective follows indefinite pronouns like iets (something), niets (nothing), veel (much), or weinig (little), it gets an extra -s. This is a leftover from the old Dutch genitive case, literally translating to 'something of smartness'.
Why is the preposition aan used instead of van for 'of'?
The English translation says 'think of', but the correct Dutch combination is denken aan (to think of / about). It is a fixed prepositional verb. The sentence splits them up, placing aan before the object (mijn eigen geheugen) and pushing denken to the end.
Why is denken pushed to the very end of the sentence?