Breakdown of Zonder schaar is het lastig om de speciale vorm voor het kunstproject te knippen.
zijn
to be
voor
for
het
it
om
for
zonder
without
knippen
to cut
de schaar
the scissors
lastig
difficult
speciaal
special
de vorm
the shape
het kunstproject
the art project
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Questions & Answers about Zonder schaar is het lastig om de speciale vorm voor het kunstproject te knippen.
Why is schaar singular when English uses scissors in the plural?
In Dutch, schaar is treated as a single tool and takes a singular form. English calls that same tool scissors (plural). When talking about “a pair of scissors,” you say een schaar or de schaar in Dutch.
Why is there no article after zonder in zonder schaar?
The preposition zonder (“without”) usually omits the article when speaking in general terms: zonder schaar means “without (any) scissors.” If you want to refer to a specific pair of scissors, you can include an article: zonder de schaar (“without the scissors”) or zonder een schaar (“without a scissors”).
Why does the sentence start with Zonder schaar and then have is het lastig? Isn’t that weird word order?
Dutch allows you to front any element of the sentence (here the prepositional phrase zonder schaar). When you start with something other than the subject, you must invert the verb and the subject. The neutral word order would be Het is lastig om... zonder schaar, but by fronting Zonder schaar, you swap is and het to get Zonder schaar is het lastig....
What is the role of het in is het lastig? Is it referring to something?
This het is a dummy or pleonastic pronoun acting as the grammatical subject. The real “subject” of the sentence is the infinitive clause om de speciale vorm voor het kunstproject te knippen, but Dutch still needs a subject slot filled, so it uses het as a placeholder.
How does the om ... te construction work in om de speciale vorm ... te knippen?
Dutch uses om ... te to introduce an infinitive clause that complements an adjective or expresses purpose. Here, the structure is:
- Adjective: lastig
- om
- Object(s): de speciale vorm voor het kunstproject
- te
- Infinitive verb: knippen
So het is lastig om de speciale vorm ... te knippen = “it’s difficult to cut out the special shape ...”.
Why does speciale get an -e ending in de speciale vorm?
In Dutch, adjectives preceding a noun take an -e ending when the noun is preceded by a definite article (de or het) or is plural. Since vorm is a de-word and here has de before it, speciale acquires -e.
Why is it voor het kunstproject instead of voor een kunstproject?
Using het indicates you’re referring to a specific art project known to speaker and listener. If you meant any art project in general, you could say voor een kunstproject, but here it’s a particular one, so voor het kunstproject.
Why use knippen rather than snijden or snipperen?
Knippen means “to cut” using scissors (or shears). Snijden is “to cut” with a blade (knife, for example). Snipperen means “to shred.” Because the action involves scissors, knippen is the correct verb choice.
In the infinitive clause, why does de speciale vorm come before te knippen? Couldn’t you say om te knippen de speciale vorm?
No, Dutch word order in om … te clauses mirrors the normal order of object before verb. You place objects and adverbials before te and the verb. So it must be om de speciale vorm ... te knippen, not om te knippen de speciale vorm.