Breakdown of Zij gaat de gordijnen openen om het raam te wassen.
zij
she
gaan
to go
om
for
wassen
to wash
openen
to open
het gordijn
the curtain
het raam
the window
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Questions & Answers about Zij gaat de gordijnen openen om het raam te wassen.
What does the Dutch sentence Zij gaat de gordijnen openen om het raam te wassen mean in English?
It means "She is going to open the curtains to wash the window." The sentence expresses a plan where she intends to open the curtains in order to wash the window.
Why is the auxiliary verb gaan used before openen without including te?
In Dutch, expressing a future intention often uses the structure gaan + infinitive without te—similar to the English "going to" construction. That’s why openen appears in its bare infinitive form immediately after gaat.
What is the purpose of the om ... te construction in this sentence?
The om ... te construction is used to indicate purpose or intention. In this case, it shows that the reason for opening the curtains is in order to wash the window.
Why do gordijnen and raam take different articles (de versus het)?
In Dutch, the article depends on the noun’s gender and number. Gordijnen is a plural noun, so it always uses the definite article de. Conversely, raam is a singular neuter noun, which takes the definite article het.
How does the word order in this sentence reflect typical Dutch syntax regarding verb placement?
The sentence starts with the subject (Zij), followed by the conjugated verb (gaat), then the object with its associated infinitive (de gordijnen openen). Finally, the purpose clause (om het raam te wassen) is added at the end. This demonstrates that while the main clause uses gaan with a bare infinitive (without te), the purpose clause follows the om ... te pattern that requires te before the infinitive.
Why is wassen preceded by te in the purpose clause, while openen in the main clause is not?
In Dutch, verbs following gaan appear in their bare infinitive form, so openen is used without te. However, when forming a purpose clause with om, the pattern om + [object] + te + [infinitive] is required. Therefore, wassen must be preceded by te to correctly express the intended purpose.