Word
Hij wil het liever verbergen, dat permanente litteken.
Meaning
He would rather hide it, that permanent scar.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Hij wil het liever verbergen, dat permanente litteken.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
willen
to want
dat
that (het-words)
liever
rather (prefer)
Questions & Answers about Hij wil het liever verbergen, dat permanente litteken.
Why do we use the pronoun het when we already say dat permanente litteken at the end?
This is called Right Dislocation, which is exactly what this lesson covers. It is a very natural speaking style in Dutch. You use the pronoun (het) to build a quick, complete main clause (Hij wil het liever verbergen), and then tack on the specific noun (dat permanente litteken) at the very end as an afterthought to clarify what het refers to.
Why is the word order het liever verbergen instead of liever het verbergen?
In Dutch, definite object pronouns like het, hem, and ze almost always come before adverbs like liever (rather), vaak (often), or niet (not). Because you used the pronoun het here, it naturally steps in front of the adverb liever.
Since litteken is a het-word, why does the adjective get an -e at the end (permanente)?
You only drop the -e on adjectives for het-words when they are indefinite (preceded by een, geen, or nothing at all), as in een permanent litteken. Because this sentence uses dat (that), which makes the noun definite, the adjective gets the standard -e ending.