Word
De massage met dit kruid maakt dat ik me beter voel.
Meaning
The massage with this herb causes me to feel better.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De massage met dit kruid maakt dat ik me beter voel.
ik
I
maken
to make
met
with
dit
this (neuter)
Questions & Answers about De massage met dit kruid maakt dat ik me beter voel.
Why do we use maakt dat instead of just translating 'makes me feel' directly?
In Dutch, you cannot directly translate the English structure 'makes me do' or 'makes me feel' using an infinitive. When a situation or object causes a reaction, you have to use maakt dat (makes that / causes that) followed by a complete new clause. That is why it literally translates to 'makes that I feel myself better'.
How does maakt dat affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
The word dat introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause). This forces the working verb to the very end of the sentence. Instead of the standard main clause order ik voel me beter, the verb voel is pushed to the end, resulting in dat ik me beter voel.
Why are ik and me placed right next to each other here?
The verb is zich voelen (to feel), which is a reflexive verb, so the subject ik must be paired with the reflexive pronoun me. Because the verb voel is pushed to the end of the clause by dat, the pronoun me stays in its normal spot right after the subject, creating the combination ik me.
Why is it dit kruid and not deze kruid?