Breakdown of Je moet er voorzichtig tussendoor rijden, wat erg gevaarlijk is.
zijn
to be
erg
very / really
rijden
to drive
moeten
to have to, must
voorzichtig
carefully
gevaarlijk
dangerous
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
wat
that / which (relative)
ertussendoor
between it
Questions & Answers about Je moet er voorzichtig tussendoor rijden, wat erg gevaarlijk is.
How is er ... tussendoor formed in this sentence?
It is built from er (replacing "it" or "them") and the circumposition tussen ... door. A circumposition usually wraps around a noun (for example, tussen de auto's door meaning "between/through the cars"). When you replace the noun with er, the prepositional parts combine to form the complex pronominal adverb ertussendoor.
Why is ertussendoor split by the word voorzichtig?
In Dutch, pronominal adverbs are very frequently split. The er part likes to sit early in the sentence (often right after the finite verb or subject), while the prepositional part (tussendoor) acts almost like a verbal particle, moving to the end of the clause just before the verb (rijden). Adverbs of manner like voorzichtig (carefully) naturally fall into the space created between them.
Could I keep it together and say Je moet ertussendoor voorzichtig rijden?
No, that would sound highly unnatural to a Dutch speaker. Because tussendoor indicates a physical direction, it strongly prefers to sit right next to the verb of motion (rijden) at the end of the clause. This essentially forces the split whenever you have other adverbs or phrases in the sentence.
Why does the second part of the sentence use wat instead of dat or die?
You must use wat as a relative pronoun when "which" refers back to an entire preceding clause or concept, rather than to a specific noun. Here, wat refers to the whole action of "driving carefully between them." Since there is no specific "thing" being called dangerous—but rather the action itself—wat is required.
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