Questions & Answers about Jij bent de krukken sneller op aan het stapelen dan ik.
Why is op separated from stapelen and placed before aan het?
The verb here is the separable verb opstapelen (to stack up). In spoken and informal Dutch, it is very common to split a separable verb when using the aan het continuous form. The separable prefix (op) is placed right before aan het, while the root infinitive (stapelen) goes at the very end of the clause.
Could I also write this sentence with the prefix and verb kept together as aan het opstapelen?
Yes, absolutely. Writing Jij bent de krukken sneller aan het opstapelen is the standard, grammatically strict way to phrase it. However, the split version shown here (op aan het stapelen) is extremely common in everyday speech, so it is important to know how to construct and understand it.
Why does the sentence end with dan ik instead of dan mij? In English, we often say 'faster than me'.
In Dutch, comparisons with dan require the pronoun to match the grammatical role of the thing it is being compared to. Because you are comparing yourself to the subject Jij (You), you must use the subject pronoun ik. It helps to think of it as a shortened version of dan ik ben (than I am).
Doesn't krukken mean 'crutches'? Why is it translated as 'stools' here?