Breakdown of Ik zoek een bord om de kaars op te zetten.
ik
I
een
a/an
op
on
zoeken
to look for
het bord
the plate
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
zetten
to make (coffee/tea) / to put
de kaars
the candle
Questions & Answers about Ik zoek een bord om de kaars op te zetten.
Why is op placed right before te zetten rather than next to the noun it refers to?
This sentence uses an attributive prepositional infinitive, which describes the noun een bord. When an infinitive phrase describes a noun using a preposition (because you put the candle on the plate), Dutch strands the preposition (op) at the end of the clause, right before te + infinitive.
Is op te zetten here from the separable verb opzetten?
No, it is not. While opzetten is a real separable verb (meaning to set up, or to put on a hat), here op is just a standard preposition. The underlying idea is de kaars op het bord zetten (to put the candle on the plate). Because het bord is moved to the front to be described, its preposition op gets left behind in the clause.
Could I say om de kaars erop te zetten to mean "to put the candle on it"?
You would only use erop if you hadn't just mentioned the plate. Since een bord is the noun immediately modified by the om ... te clause, the word er (replacing the noun) is unnecessary and incorrect here. Just leave the preposition op by itself.
What role does om play in this sentence?
In this structure, om ... te links a noun to its intended function. While you might know om ... te as meaning "in order to", here it acts more like a descriptive phrase explaining what the plate is for. English does a similar thing by simply using "to" (a plate to put the candle on).
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