Breakdown of Hij doet een poging om het te laten verdwijnen.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
een
a/an
doen
to do
het
it
Questions & Answers about Hij doet een poging om het te laten verdwijnen.
Why is te placed before laten and not before verdwijnen?
In an om ... te clause with multiple infinitives, te always goes immediately before the auxiliary or causative verb. Here, laten is the causative verb, so te goes right before it. The main verb (verdwijnen) simply follows at the very end.
Why do we use laten here for "to make" instead of maken?
In Dutch, when you cause an action to happen or "make" something do something, you must use the causative verb laten. You cannot use maken, which is mainly used for physically building, creating, or fixing things.
Could I say Hij maakt een poging to match the English "He makes an attempt"?
No, because Dutch uses a different verb for this fixed expression. While English says "to make an attempt", Dutch says een poging doen (literally "to do an attempt").
Why does the object het go right after om?
In an om ... te structure, all objects and adverbs are squeezed between om and the te + verb cluster at the end of the sentence. Since het is the object, it goes immediately after om.