Breakdown of Ik zal hem nooit laten zetten, die piercing in mijn wenkbrauw.
ik
I
in
in
mijn
my
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
nooit
never
zullen
shall / will
hem
him
zetten
to make (coffee/tea) / to put
laten
to have (something) done
de piercing
the piercing
de wenkbrauw
the eyebrow
Questions & Answers about Ik zal hem nooit laten zetten, die piercing in mijn wenkbrauw.
Why is die piercing in mijn wenkbrauw placed after the verbs at the very end of the sentence?
This is an example of Right Dislocation. The speaker first uses the pronoun hem (it) as a placeholder in the main sentence. Then, almost as an afterthought or to add emphasis, they clarify what hem refers to by tacking die piercing in mijn wenkbrauw onto the very end, completely outside the normal verb bracket.
Why use hem (him) to refer to a piercing?
In Dutch, piercing is a de-word. When referring back to a non-human de-word, you generally use the masculine pronoun hij (he) or its object form hem (him/it), unless the word is explicitly female. Because the piercing functions as the direct object in the first part of the sentence, it takes the object form hem.
What does laten zetten mean here, and why isn't it translated as 'let set'?
While laten often means 'to let' or 'to allow', here it is used as a causative verb meaning 'to have something done' by someone else. Een piercing zetten is the standard Dutch expression for getting a piercing. So, laten zetten simply means 'to have it done' by a professional.
Could I put die piercing in mijn wenkbrauw before the verbs instead?
Yes, but that changes the grammar completely. You could say: Ik zal die piercing in mijn wenkbrauw nooit laten zetten. In that case, you drop the pronoun hem because you no longer need a placeholder, and it becomes a standard sentence without right dislocation.
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