Breakdown of Wij hebben het gereedschap om hem mee uit te hollen.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
wij
we
hebben
to have
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
mee
along, with (too)
het gereedschap
the tools
uithollen
to hollow out
Questions & Answers about Wij hebben het gereedschap om hem mee uit te hollen.
How does the om ... mee uit te hollen structure work here?
It acts as an adjective describing the noun het gereedschap (the tools). The stranded preposition mee refers back to the tools. Literally, it translates to: tools to hollow the object (hem) out with.
Why do we use mee instead of met here?
The preposition relates back to het gereedschap. In Dutch, when the preposition met is stranded near the end of a clause instead of sitting directly in front of a noun, it changes its form to mee.
Why does the Dutch sentence use hem if the English translation just says 'it'?
The pronoun hem is the direct object of uithollen. In Dutch, hem is used for 'it' when referring back to a previously mentioned singular de-word (like de pompoen, meaning the pumpkin). If they were hollowing out a het-word, they would have used het.
Why are uit, te, and hollen written as three separate words?
Uithollen (to hollow out) is a separable verb. In a te-infinitive construction, te must be placed exactly between the separable prefix (uit) and the root verb (hollen), and standard Dutch spelling requires spaces between all three parts.
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