Breakdown of Dit zijn de dozen waar we ons gisteren tussendoor wurmden.
zijn
to be
wij
we
dit
this (neuter)
gisteren
yesterday
de doos
the box
zich wurmen
to squeeze oneself
waartussendoor
between which / through which
Questions & Answers about Dit zijn de dozen waar we ons gisteren tussendoor wurmden.
How does the complex pronominal adverb work here, and why is it split?
The sentence uses the circumposition tussen ... door (in between and through). Because it refers back to a thing (de dozen), it combines with waar instead of a normal relative pronoun. In a relative clause, waar takes the first position, while the preposition part (tussendoor) is pushed to the end of the clause, right before the verb wurmden.
If the sentence structure were different, would waartussendoor be written as a single word?
Yes! When these words are not split by other sentence elements, they combine into the single word waartussendoor. However, relative clauses almost always split the waar from its prepositional parts.
Why do we use Dit zijn instead of Deze zijn if dozen is plural?
When introducing a noun with the verb zijn (to be), Dutch always uses the neutral pronouns dit or dat, regardless of whether the noun that follows is singular, plural, de, or het. The verb simply agrees with the plural noun, which is why we say Dit zijn.
What is the function of ons in this sentence?
It is the reflexive pronoun for we. The verb here is zich wurmen (to squeeze oneself). Because the subject is we, the reflexive pronoun must be ons.
Learn Dit zijn de dozen waar we ons gisteren tussendoor wurmden and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free