Sign inSign up

Ik neem de sleutelbos mee, zodat hij niet kwijtraakt.

Ik neem de sleutelbos mee, zodat hij niet kwijtraakt.
I take the keychain with me so that it doesn’t get lost.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Dutch now

Questions & Answers about Ik neem de sleutelbos mee, zodat hij niet kwijtraakt.

What does the particle mee do in the verb meenemen, and why is it placed at the end of the main clause?

Mee is a separable prefix in Dutch. The full verb meenemen means “to take along” or “to bring with you.” In a main clause the finite verb splits: the conjugated part (neem) appears in second position, and the prefix (mee) goes to the very end of the clause:
Ik neem de sleutelbos mee.

Why is the verb kwijtraakt at the end in zodat hij niet kwijtraakt?

Dutch subordinate clauses (introduced by conjunctions like zodat) follow a verb‐final word order. Once you start a clause with zodat, the conjugated verb moves all the way to the end:
zodat + subject + negation + verb
→ zodat hij niet kwijtraakt.

What kind of conjunction is zodat, and how does it differ from om … te and opdat?

Zodat is a subordinating conjunction expressing purpose or result (“so that”).

  • Om … te requires an infinitive and shares the same subject as the main clause.
  • Opdat also introduces a purpose clause with verb‐final word order but is more formal or literary than zodat.
Why is the pronoun hij used for de sleutelbos instead of het?
Every Dutch noun is either a de-word or a het-word. Sleutelbos is a de-word (common gender), so its corresponding pronoun is hij. You use het only for neuter nouns.
How is negation formed here, and why is niet used rather than geen?

Niet negates verbs, adjectives, adverbs or entire clauses. Geen negates nouns and replaces an indefinite article. Since we’re negating the action kwijtraakt, we use niet:
zodat hij niet kwijtraakt.

Where does kwijtraakt come from and how do you conjugate it?

Kwijtraakt is the 3rd-person singular present tense of the verb kwijtraken (to get lost, to lose). It’s written as one word in standard spelling. Conjugation looks like this:
ik kwijtraak, jij kwijtraakt, hij/zij/het kwijtraakt, wij kwijtra­ken, etc.

Is the comma before zodat required in Ik neem de sleutelbos mee, zodat hij niet kwijtraakt?
Commas before subordinate conjunctions like zodat are optional in Dutch. They often improve readability—especially in longer sentences—but they’re not strictly mandatory here.
Could you express the same purpose with a different construction?

Yes. For example:
• Ik neem de sleutelbos mee om te voorkomen dat ik hem kwijtraak.
• Ik neem de sleutelbos mee opdat hij niet kwijtraakt.

What’s the difference between meenemen and meebrengen?

Both can mean “to bring along,” but:
• Meenemen focuses on taking something away from the current location with you.
• Meebrengen emphasizes bringing something to a destination (to someone or someplace new).
In this context, meenemen is correct because you’re taking the keyring with you.