Breakdown of Ondanks de moeite heeft zij niets om de lantaarn mee te versieren.
zij
she
hebben
to have
niets
nothing
te
to (infinitive marker)
Questions & Answers about Ondanks de moeite heeft zij niets om de lantaarn mee te versieren.
Why do we use mee here instead of the standard preposition met?
When a preposition refers back to an indefinite pronoun like niets in an om... te clause, we must use its pronominal form. For met (with), this stranded form is mee. This creates the meaning 'nothing to decorate the lantern with'.
Where exactly does the stranded preposition mee have to go in the clause?
It is placed near the very end of the clause, right before te versieren. The direct object of the action (de lantaarn) comes before this stranded preposition.
Why is the word order heeft zij rather than zij heeft?
Because the sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Ondanks de moeite, the verb-second (V2) rule kicks in. The main verb heeft takes the second position, causing the subject zij to invert and follow it.
How does ondanks work in this sentence?
Ondanks means 'despite' or 'in spite of'. It is a preposition, so it directly takes a noun phrase like de moeite (the effort). Unlike the English 'in spite of', it does not require an extra word for 'of'.