Breakdown of De werkdruk is onhoudbaar en houdt niet op.
onhoudbaar
unsustainable
de werkdruk
the work pressure
ophouden
to stop / to cease
Questions & Answers about De werkdruk is onhoudbaar en houdt niet op.
How is onhoudbaar formed?
It comes from the verb houden (to hold or keep). The suffix -baar works exactly like the English suffix '-able', making houdbaar (sustainable, keepable, or non-perishable). Adding the negative prefix on- makes it onhoudbaar (untenable, unsustainable, or impossible to maintain).
Both halves of the sentence use a form of houden. How does the second one work?
The second clause uses the separable verb ophouden, which means 'to stop' or 'to cease'. Because this is a coordinated main clause following en, the verb splits. The conjugated part houdt takes the normal verb position, and the separable prefix op is pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why use ophouden instead of stoppen here?
While both translate to 'to stop', stoppen is typically used for halting a physical movement (like a vehicle) or actively quitting an action (like smoking). Ophouden is much more common for ongoing processes, continuous events, or nuisances that come to an end, such as rain, noise, or a relentless workload.
The current lesson is about the consequential particle cluster dan ook. How could we add that to this sentence?
If you wanted to emphasize that the endlessness of the workload is the logical consequence of the situation, you could insert dan ook into the middle field of the second clause. It would become: De werkdruk is onhoudbaar en houdt dan ook niet op.
Why is there no subject after the conjunction en?
Because both clauses share the exact same subject (De werkdruk), you do not need to repeat it in the second clause. If you did want to include a pronoun for extra clarity, you would use hij because druk is a de-word, making it: en hij houdt niet op.
Learn De werkdruk is onhoudbaar en houdt niet op 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