Breakdown of Ik krijg te zien hoe de klant afrekent bij de winkelketen.
ik
I
zien
to see
hoe
how
bij
at / near / by
de klant
the customer
krijgen
to get (receive)
te
to (infinitive marker)
de winkelketen
the retail chain
afrekenen
to pay (settle a bill)
Questions & Answers about Ik krijg te zien hoe de klant afrekent bij de winkelketen.
What is the exact nuance of krijgen te zien compared to just zien?
The structure krijgen te + infinitive expresses that you are passively receiving information or an experience from an outside source. While zien simply means "to see", krijgen te zien translates to "to get to see" or "to be shown". It emphasizes that someone else is giving you the access or opportunity to view this process.
Because of the subordinate clause, shouldn't the verb afrekent be at the very end of the sentence?
You would normally expect the verb at the very end of a subordinate clause introduced by hoe. However, Dutch allows prepositional phrases (like bij de winkelketen) to be placed after the verbs. This is a common stylistic choice to prevent the middle of the sentence from becoming too long and clunky.
Why is the separable verb afrekenen written as one word (afrekent) here instead of being split?
Because it sits in a subordinate clause. In a normal main clause, the verb would split (for example: De klant rekent af). But in a subordinate clause, the conjugated verb is pushed to the end of the clause where it reunites with its separable prefix, forming the single word afrekent.
Why do we use the preposition bij here instead of in?
In Dutch, bij is used when referring to an organization, company, or brand as a corporate entity. Since winkelketen (retail chain) refers to the company as a whole network rather than a single physical building, bij is the natural choice. If you were talking about being physically inside one specific shop, you would use in de winkel.
Learn Ik krijg te zien hoe de klant afrekent bij de winkelketen and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free