Breakdown of Die lijn helpt mij om goed te rekenen.
die
that
om
for
mij
me
helpen
to help
goed
well
de lijn
the line
rekenen
to calculate
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Questions & Answers about Die lijn helpt mij om goed te rekenen.
What is die doing before lijn, and why can’t I just say de lijn?
die is a demonstrative determiner meaning that. It replaces the definite article de, so you cannot use de at the same time. If you meant “this line”, you’d use deze lijn; die lijn is more like “that line.”
Why is mij used instead of me here?
Both mij and me are object pronouns meaning me. mij is the full (stressed) form and is common in writing or for emphasis, while me is the unstressed (colloquial) form. In speech, you’ll often hear me, but mij is perfectly correct and slightly more formal.
Why do we have om goed te rekenen? What are om and te doing?
This is the Dutch infinitive construction om … te + verb, equivalent to in order to + verb. Here:
- om introduces the clause
- te marks the infinitive rekenen
You need both; without om, the clause lacks its introducer, and without te, the verb wouldn’t be marked as an infinitive.
Why is rekenen at the end of the clause?
In om … te clauses (and in most subordinate clauses), Dutch places the verb at the end. The fixed order is: om + [adverb] + te + verb, so rekenen naturally goes last.
Why is goed not inflected like goede?
Here goed is an adverb modifying rekenen. Dutch adverbs are not inflected, so they stay in their base form. goed serves equally as adjective and adverb.
How come the verb helpen ends in -t as helpt?
In the present tense, regular verbs take:
- stem (help-)
- -t for 3rd person singular (hij/zij/het or any singular noun, like die lijn)
So die lijn (3rd person singular) → helpt.
Can I say Die lijn helpt mij zodat ik goed kan rekenen instead?
Yes. This uses a subordinate clause with zodat (so that) and a finite verb:
- om goed te rekenen → zodat ik goed kan rekenen
In the zodat clause, you introduce the subject ik and put the finite verb kan at the end. It’s more explicit but longer.