Breakdown of Hij rijdt de auto voorzichtig achteruit de smalle straat in.
hij
he
de auto
the car
de straat
the street
voorzichtig
carefully
smal
narrow
rijden
to drive
achteruit
backwards
in
into
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Hij rijdt de auto voorzichtig achteruit de smalle straat in.
Why is the verb split so that in appears at the end of the sentence instead of next to rijdt?
Dutch has many separable-prefix verbs like inrijden (to drive into). In the finite form, the prefix detaches and moves to the end of the clause. So Hij rijdt … de straat in is really Hij rijdt de auto in (“He drives the car in”), with in parked at the end.
What is the word achteruit doing here? Isn’t it part of the verb too?
No, achteruit is a directional adverb meaning “backwards.” It modifies rijdt by specifying the direction of the driving. The actual verb is just rijdt (from rijden), while achteruit tells us how he’s driving: in reverse.
Why are there two directional elements, achteruit and in, in the same sentence?
They serve different purposes. Achteruit indicates the direction of motion (backwards). In is the separable prefix of inrijden and marks the path or goal (“into the street”). So you’re driving backwards into the street.
Why does voorzichtig have no -e ending, even though it’s describing how something is done?
Here voorzichtig is an adverb of manner (“carefully”). Adverbs in Dutch are invariable—they look like the base adjective but never take the -e ending. When adjectives directly modify nouns they get inflected (see smalle straat), but adverbs do not.
Why is it de smalle straat and not het smalle straat?
The word straat is a common-gender noun in Dutch, which always takes de in the singular. Only neuter nouns use het. So de straat, de smalle straat.
Why does smalle end with -e before straat?
When an adjective precedes a definite-article noun (de straat), it takes the weak inflection -e. That’s why you get de smalle straat rather than de smal straat.
Can I swap the order of voorzichtig and achteruit? For example, say Hij rijdt de auto achteruit voorzichtig …?
Generally Dutch prefers manner adverbs (voorzichtig) before directional adverbs (achteruit). Swapping them sounds awkward or emphasizes the direction over the manner. Stick with … voorzichtig achteruit … for a natural flow.
Why not use the single verb achteruitrijden instead of splitting rijdt and achteruit?
You could say achteruitrijden, which means simply “to reverse.” But then you lose the sense of “entering the street.” By using rijdt … achteruit … in, you combine reversing (achteruitrijden) with entering (inrijden). It precisely conveys “to back the car into the narrow street.”