Breakdown of Zij hebben een wit laken om een spook van te maken.
een
a/an
zij
they
hebben
to have
maken
to make
wit
white
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
het laken
the sheet
het spook
the ghost
Questions & Answers about Zij hebben een wit laken om een spook van te maken.
How does the om ... van te maken structure work here?
This is an attributive prepositional infinitive. The preposition van (out of) relates back to the material, een wit laken (a white sheet). Just like in the English translation 'a white sheet to make a ghost out of', the preposition is separated from its noun. In Dutch, it is placed right before the te + infinitive cluster.
Why is een spook placed before the preposition van?
In an om ... te clause, the direct object of the verb (here, een spook) is placed between om and the verb cluster at the end. The stranded preposition van stays tightly attached to the left of the te maken cluster, so the object must come before it.
Which verb phrase does the preposition van actually belong to?
It belongs to the standard combination iets maken van (to make something out of). By pulling it apart in this construction, van is left stranded right before the verb, letting you elegantly link the raw material (een wit laken) to what it will become (een spook).
Why doesn't the adjective get an -e ending in een wit laken?
This is a good refresher on adjective inflection. Laken is a neuter (het) noun. When a neuter noun is modified by an adjective and preceded by the indefinite article een, the adjective drops the -e ending. If it were a specific sheet, it would be het witte laken.
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