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Questions & Answers about Het overwerk moet ophouden.
What is the difference between using ophouden and stoppen here?
Both mean to stop, but ophouden is frequently used for situations, events, or behaviors that come to an end or need to cease (like rain, noise, or overtime). Stoppen is also perfectly fine here, though it often implies a more active, deliberate halting of an action or physical movement.
Since ophouden is a separable verb, why are op and houden written as one word here?
This is because of the modal verb moet. Modals push the main verb to the very end of the clause in its full infinitive form. When a separable verb is placed at the end of a clause as a full infinitive, its prefix remains attached to the verb stem.
If I wanted to say 'The boss must stop the overtime,' could I just use ophouden as a transitive verb?
No, when ophouden means to cease, it is intransitive, meaning it cannot take a direct object. To say someone is actively stopping something else, you would typically use stoppen met (e.g., De baas moet stoppen met het overwerk) or a transitive verb like stopzetten.