Breakdown of Het is niet meer mogelijk om de tekst linksboven uit te lijnen.
zijn
to be
niet
not
het
it
meer
more
de tekst
the text
mogelijk
possible
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
linksboven
top left
uitlijnen
to align
Questions & Answers about Het is niet meer mogelijk om de tekst linksboven uit te lijnen.
Why is it linksboven instead of bovenlinks, since in English we say top left?
In Dutch compound direction words, the horizontal direction (links, rechts) usually comes before the vertical one (boven, onder, midden). So top left translates literally to left-above (linksboven).
Is linksboven acting as an adjective here, describing the text?
No, it acts as a compound locative adverb pinpointing exactly where the text should go. If you wanted to use it as an adjective before a noun (like the top-left text), you would use its superlative-style adjective form: de linksbovenste tekst.
Why does the word te split uitlijnen into uit te lijnen?
The verb uitlijnen (to align) is a separable verb. This sentence uses an om ... te infinitive construction. When a separable verb is used with te, the te must be placed exactly between the separable prefix (uit) and the core verb (lijnen).
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