Breakdown of Het samenstellen van onze agenda kost veel tijd.
onze
our
veel
a lot
de tijd
the time
van
of
kosten
to cost
het samenstellen
the compiling
de agenda
the agenda
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Questions & Answers about Het samenstellen van onze agenda kost veel tijd.
Why is het used before samenstellen?
In Dutch you can turn an infinitive into a noun (a “gerund”) by adding the definite article het. Here het samenstellen literally means “the putting together” or “the compiling.” Without het, samenstellen remains a verb and can’t function as the subject of the sentence.
Why do we use van after samenstellen?
When you nominalize a verb in Dutch, the standard pattern is het [verb] van [object]. So het samenstellen van onze agenda corresponds to English “the assembling of our agenda.” The preposition van links the action (samenstellen) to its object (onze agenda).
Why do we say onze agenda and not ons agenda?
Possessive pronouns in Dutch agree with the gender (and sometimes number) of the noun. Agenda is a de-word (common gender), so you use onze (for de-words) rather than ons (which is for het-words).
Why is the verb kost singular, instead of kosten?
Here kost is the 3rd person singular of the verb kosten (“to cost”). The subject is the singular noun phrase het samenstellen van onze agenda, so the verb must also be singular: kost.
Why is there no article before veel tijd?
When talking about an indefinite amount of an uncountable noun like tijd, Dutch typically omits the article. Veel tijd simply means “a lot of time,” without needing de or een.
Is samenstellen one word or two? Should it be split?
As a finite verb in a sentence, samenstellen is separable (e.g. wij stellen de agenda samen). But when you nominalize it with het, you write it as one word (het samenstellen) and you do not split it.
Can I rephrase the sentence as Het kost veel tijd om onze agenda samen te stellen?
Yes. That version uses an infinitive clause (om ... samen te stellen) instead of the nominalization. Both sentences mean the same thing; the second is often more conversational.
Could we use samenstelling instead of samenstellen?
Certainly. You could say De samenstelling van onze agenda kost veel tijd. Here samenstelling is a noun (“composition”), not a verbal noun, and you use de instead of het. It’s correct but slightly more formal.