Breakdown of Zij kijkt achter zich en laat de kauwgom vallen.
zij
she
en
and
kijken
to watch
vallen
to fall
zich
oneself
laten
to let (laten we ... = let's ...)
achter
behind
de kauwgom
the chewing gum
Questions & Answers about Zij kijkt achter zich en laat de kauwgom vallen.
Why do we use zich instead of haar in achter zich?
In English, you say "She looks behind her". But in Dutch, when a preposition of place (like achter, naast, or bij) refers back to the subject of the sentence, you must use the reflexive pronoun. Since the subject is zij (third person), the reflexive pronoun is zich. If you said achter haar, it would mean she is looking behind a different woman!
How does laat ... vallen translate to "drops"?
Dutch doesn't have a single, common equivalent for the active verb "to drop" (as in dropping an object from your hands). Instead, you use the verb laten (to let / to make) together with vallen (to fall). Literally, the sentence says she "lets the chewing gum fall."
Why is vallen placed at the very end of the sentence?
This follows standard Dutch word order. The second half of the sentence (en laat de kauwgom vallen) acts as a main clause with an implied subject (zij). The conjugated verb laat takes the second position, pushing the infinitive verb vallen to the very end of the clause.
The word kauwgom looks a bit like English. Is it a loanword?
Yes, it is a localized adaptation of the English "chewing gum". It is made up of the Dutch verb stem kauw (from kauwen, meaning to chew) and the noun gom (gum).
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