Breakdown of Ik laat de monteur de stroom snel herstellen.
Questions & Answers about Ik laat de monteur de stroom snel herstellen.
Laten here is a causative verb meaning “to have someone do something.” The structure is:
• Subject (Ik)
• laten (finite verb in V2)
• person who does the action (de monteur)
• thing acted upon (de stroom)
• (adverb) (snel)
• bare infinitive (herstellen)
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After verbs of causation or perception like laten, zien, horen, Dutch uses the bare infinitive. You only add te with certain other verbs (e.g. proberen, besluiten, hopen).
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In Dutch main clauses the finite verb (laat) goes in second position (V2). Any non-finite verbs (infinitives, participles) form a cluster at the very end, after objects and adverbs.
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In a laten-construction the sequence is:
1) the person performing the action (de monteur)
2) the direct object or thing affected (de stroom)
3) any adverbs (snel)
4) the bare infinitive (herstellen)
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Yes. Dutch adverbs can float in the “midfield” (between the finite verb and the verb cluster) or inside the cluster just before the infinitive. For example:
• Ik laat snel de monteur de stroom herstellen.
• Ik laat de monteur de stroom vandaag snel herstellen.
Placement may shift emphasis but stays roughly between laat and herstellen.
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Since de stroom is a “de-word,” you use the object pronoun hem. For example:
Ik laat de monteur hem snel herstellen.
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A straightforward passive focuses on de stroom:
De stroom wordt snel (door de monteur) hersteld.
Here wordt is the auxiliary and hersteld the past participle. The agent (door de monteur) is optional.
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Causative laten never takes a dat-clause. If you need a subordinate clause with a finite verb, you must replace laten with another verb, for example:
Ik zorg ervoor dat de monteur de stroom snel herstelt.
Here zorg ervoor governs a dat-clause, and herstelt goes to the end of that subordinate clause.