Breakdown of Eerst krijg ik de etalage te zien.
ik
I
zien
to see
krijgen
to get (receive)
te
to (infinitive marker)
Questions & Answers about Eerst krijg ik de etalage te zien.
How does the krijgen te zien structure work in this sentence?
It translates to 'get to see' or 'am shown'. The pattern krijgen + te + infinitive is a common way in Dutch to express passively receiving information or sensory input. Here, krijg is the main conjugated verb and the rest of the verbal package, te zien, goes to the end of the clause.
Could I use this exact krijgen te structure with any verb, like saying krijg ik te eten to mean 'I get to eat'?
No, this structure is strictly limited to verbs of perception and information reception. You will almost exclusively see it with verbs like zien (to see), horen (to hear), weten (to know), and lezen (to read). It cannot be used to mean getting the opportunity to do general physical actions.
Why is the word order krijg ik instead of ik krijg?
Because the sentence starts with the adverb Eerst (First). Whenever a main clause starts with a word or phrase other than the subject, Dutch requires inversion. The conjugated verb (krijg) must stay in the second grammatical position, forcing the subject (ik) to move immediately after it.
Why does de etalage come between krijg and te zien?