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Het is een risico om zonder jas in de hagel te lopen, maar Tom doet het toch.

Het is een risico om zonder jas in de hagel te lopen, maar Tom doet het toch.
It is a risk to walk in the hail without a coat, but Tom does it anyway.
FromLesson 20inHardcore Dutch
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Breakdown of Het is een risico om zonder jas in de hagel te lopen, maar Tom doet het toch.

zijn
to be
Tom
Tom
maar
but
in
in
lopen
to walk
het
it
om
for
de jas
the coat
zonder
without
doen
to do
toch
anyway
de hagel
the hail
het risico
the risk

Questions & Answers about Het is een risico om zonder jas in de hagel te lopen, maar Tom doet het toch.

Why is Het used at the beginning of the sentence? What does this het refer to?
The first het is a dummy (expletive) pronoun—an impersonal subject that doesn’t refer to anything concrete. Dutch (like English “It’s a shame…”) requires a subject. The real content is the infinitive clause that follows: om zonder jas in de hagel te lopen.
What is the function of om ... te lopen here? Why do we need both om and te?

Dutch forms infinitive clauses with om + infinitive + te. This clause acts like a noun and completes the idea of een risico.

  • om introduces the clause
  • te marks lopen as the infinitive
    English “to walk” → Dutch om … te lopen.
Why is there no article before jas in zonder jas? Would zonder een jas also work?

After zonder (“without”), Dutch normally drops the article:
• correct: zonder jas, zonder bril
• you can use zonder een jas for emphasis (“without even a coat”), but in neutral statements zonder jas is preferred.

Why does it say in de hagel? Can we say in hagel or in het hagel?

Weather and mass nouns like hagel (“hail”) take de in such phrases:
• in de regen, in de sneeuw, in de hagel
Dropping de sounds too bare (in hagel) and in het hagel is wrong because hagel is a de-word.

What does the second het refer to in Tom doet het toch?
The second het is a pronoun standing in for the entire action om zonder jas in de hagel te lopen. In English it’s “Tom does it anyway,” where it = walking in the hail without a coat.
Why is toch placed at the end of the sentence? Could it go elsewhere?

toch means “anyway” or “nevertheless.” Placed at the end it emphasizes that Tom goes ahead despite the risk:
• Tom doet het toch.
Putting it before the verb (Tom doet toch het) is possible in some contexts but here sounds awkward.

Why is the verb doet in the second position after Tom, rather than immediately after maar?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb sits in the second slot. Coordinating conjunctions like maar don’t count as occupying the first slot. So you get:
1st slot: Tom
2nd slot: doet
(“Maar Tom doet het toch.”)

More from this lesson

zettenhet bordZet het bord op de tafel.de bestellingJe kunt je bestelling in de winkel ophalen.De ober zet het warme bord op tafel en controleert onze bestelling.de jaszakTom vindt geld in zijn jaszak.
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