Breakdown of Het is onmogelijk om tienduizenden trekvogels te tellen.
zijn
to be
het
it
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
Questions & Answers about Het is onmogelijk om tienduizenden trekvogels te tellen.
The lesson is about the suffix -tallen, so why does this sentence use tienduizenden instead of a word with -tallen?
While Dutch uses -tallen for tens (tientallen), it simply pluralizes the base number for hundreds, thousands, and beyond. So tens of thousands literally becomes ten-thousands: tienduizenden. You do not use a -tallen suffix for these larger base numbers.
Why is there no word for 'of' between tienduizenden and trekvogels?
In English, we say tens of thousands of birds. In Dutch, indefinite numeric aggregates act just like regular numbers. You do not use van (of); you just place the amount directly in front of the noun: tienduizenden trekvogels.
What is the grammatical function of om ... te in this sentence?
The om ... te + infinitive structure is used to link an action to an adjective, which in this case is onmogelijk (impossible). The phrase Het is onmogelijk om... is the standard way to express It is impossible to... in Dutch.
How is the compound noun trekvogels formed?
It combines the verb stem trek- (from trekken, meaning to pull, travel, or migrate) with vogels (birds). A traveling bird translates perfectly to a migratory bird.