Breakdown of Ons streven is om jaarlijks meer winst te maken.
zijn
to be
om
for
meer
more
ons
our
maken
to make
de winst
the profit
het streven
the aim
jaarlijks
yearly
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Questions & Answers about Ons streven is om jaarlijks meer winst te maken.
Why is om… te used in the clause om jaarlijks meer winst te maken?
The om… te construction introduces an infinitive clause of purpose, equivalent to English “in order to.” Here om jaarlijks meer winst te maken means “in order to make more profit every year.”
Why does the sentence say ons streven and not onze streven?
In Dutch, possessive pronouns agree with the gender of the noun. Streven is a het-word (neuter noun), so you use ons rather than onze.
Is streven in this sentence a noun or a verb?
Here streven functions as a noun meaning “aim” or “goal.” It’s a verbal noun (a substantivized infinitive). If it were the verb, you’d see a conjugated form (e.g. wij streven).
Why is jaarlijks placed before meer winst, and could its position change?
Adverbs of frequency like jaarlijks usually precede the phrase they modify. You could move jaarlijks within the infinitive clause (e.g. om meer winst jaarlijks te maken), but it sounds less natural; standard Dutch keeps jaarlijks directly before meer winst.
Why is there no article before winst? Could you say de winst?
When referring to profit in general, Dutch omits the article: just winst. Using de winst would imply “the specific profit” (e.g. profit from last quarter) rather than profit as a recurring concept.
Can you rephrase this using the verb streven naar instead of the noun streven?
Yes. If you switch to the verb streven naar, you’d say:
• Wij streven ernaar jaarlijks meer winst te maken.
Here streven is a verb, naar becomes part of the verb phrase, and ernaar stands in for naar + infinitive clause.