Breakdown of Die spullen zijn breekbaar, dus til ze voorzichtig in plaats van de doos te laten vallen.
zijn
to be
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
vallen
to fall
voorzichtig
carefully
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
laten
to let (laten we ... = let's ...)
dus
so, therefore
de doos
the box
te
to (infinitive marker)
in plaats van
instead of
tillen
to lift
het spul
the stuff, the gear
breekbaar
fragile (breakable)
Questions & Answers about Die spullen zijn breekbaar, dus til ze voorzichtig in plaats van de doos te laten vallen.
Since spullen translates to 'stuff', why does it use the plural verb zijn?
Spullen is always a plural word in Dutch, meaning 'things', 'items', or 'belongings'. Watch out for this if you are translating the English word 'stuff' in your head, which takes a singular verb ('that stuff is...').
Why does the sentence use two verbs, laten vallen, to mean 'dropping'?
Dutch does not have a single, common verb for 'to drop' an object. Instead, you use the causative construction laten vallen, which literally means 'to let fall'.
How does the word order work in the phrase in plaats van de doos te laten vallen?
The phrase in plaats van means 'instead of'. When it introduces a new action, Dutch uses an infinitive clause. The object (de doos) comes first, and the verbs get pushed to the end. The word te (to) is placed right before the final verb cluster (te laten vallen).
Why does the verb til come immediately after dus without a subject?
While dus can sometimes affect word order, here the second clause is an imperative (a command). In an imperative, the subject is dropped and the phrase starts with the verb (til, meaning 'lift'), just like in English.
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