Tom heeft de deur open gelaten voor de kat.

Tom

Breakdown of Tom heeft de deur open gelaten voor de kat.

• de kat: the cat
• de deur: the door
• voor: for
• openlaten: to leave open
• open: open

Questions & Answers about Tom heeft de deur open gelaten voor de kat.

Why is the present perfect tense (heeft ... gelaten) used here?

In Dutch, the present perfect is formed with heeft (or hebt / hebben depending on the subject) + a past participle—in this case, gelaten. It indicates that Tom’s action of leaving the door open happened in the past but is still relevant now (the door remains open for the cat).

What does open signify in this sentence?

Here, open functions like an adjective describing the state of the door. It tells us how Tom left the door: not just that he let it be, but specifically that he let it stay open.

Why do we need voor de kat at the end?

Voor de kat explains the reason or purpose—Tom left the door open for the cat. The preposition voor translates to for in English and introduces the beneficiary of Tom’s action.

Could we also say Tom liet de deur open voor de kat?

Yes, you can. Tom liet de deur open voor de kat is in the simple past tense (“Tom left the door open for the cat”). The original sentence uses the present perfect tense to imply that the result of the action is still relevant.

Is gelaten the past participle of laten, and how is it pronounced?

Yes, gelaten is the past participle of laten (meaning to let or to leave in this context). It’s pronounced roughly as huh-LAH-tuhn, with a soft guttural sound for the g similar to the ch in the Scottish “loch.”