Word
Ik heb me vertild aan die zware doos.
Meaning
I strained myself lifting that heavy box.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ik heb me vertild aan die zware doos.
ik
I
hebben
to have
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
zwaar
heavy / severe (of a punishment) / tough, hard
Questions & Answers about Ik heb me vertild aan die zware doos.
How does vertild demonstrate the zich ver- prefix pattern?
The base verb here is tillen, which means to lift. The zich ver- pattern expresses doing an action incorrectly or to your own detriment. So, zich vertillen literally means to mis-lift oneself, which translates naturally as straining or injuring yourself by lifting.
Why is the preposition aan used here?
The reflexive verb zich vertillen takes the fixed preposition aan to introduce the object that caused the strain. You can think of it as injuring yourself on or because of that specific heavy box.
Why is vertild placed before aan die zware doos instead of at the very end of the sentence?
Normally, a past participle like vertild gets pushed to the very end of the clause. However, Dutch allows prepositional phrases like aan die zware doos to follow the verb cluster in a position called the uitloop (extension). Saying Ik heb me aan die zware doos vertild is also completely correct and very common.
Why doesn't the past participle vertild have a ge- prefix?