Breakdown of We hangen de ballon stilletjes op, zodat we hem kunnen verrassen.
kunnen
can
hem
him
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
ophangen
to hang up
zodat
so that
stilletjes
silently / quietly (without noise)
de ballon
the balloon
verrassen
to surprise
Questions & Answers about We hangen de ballon stilletjes op, zodat we hem kunnen verrassen.
How does stilletjes change the meaning compared to just using stil?
While stil just means "quiet" or "still", adding -etjes creates an adverb of manner (stilletjes) that translates to "quietly", "secretly", or "on the sly". It adds a softer, more deliberate nuance to the action, which fits perfectly when sneaking around to set up a surprise.
Why is op placed at the very end of the first clause, after stilletjes?
The verb is ophangen (to hang up), which is a separable verb. In a main clause, the conjugated part (hangen) takes the second position, while the prefix (op) gets kicked to the very end of that clause. The adverb stilletjes must come before this final prefix.
Why do both verbs (kunnen verrassen) go at the very end of the second clause?
The conjunction zodat (so that) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the end. When you have a modal verb (kunnen) and an infinitive (verrassen), they group together at the end of the sentence.
Could we use an om ... te construction here instead of zodat?
Yes! Because the subject (we) is exactly the same in both the main clause and the goal clause, you can easily use om ... te (in order to). The second half of the sentence would become: ..., om hem te kunnen verrassen.
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