Breakdown of De arts zegt dat regelmatig wandelen gezond is, en ik houd me eraan.
Questions & Answers about De arts zegt dat regelmatig wandelen gezond is, en ik houd me eraan.
dat is a subordinating conjunction (equivalent to English “that”). It introduces the subordinate clause dat regelmatig wandelen gezond is, which functions as the object of zegt.
In a Dutch subordinate clause introduced by a conjunction like dat, the finite verb moves to the very end. So instead of is gezond, we get gezond is.
- wandelen is an infinitive being used like a noun (a gerund).
- regelmatig is an adverb modifying that infinitive.
Together they form the subject of the subordinate clause: “regelmatig wandelen” = “walking regularly.”
- Literally, zich houden aan iets means “to keep oneself to something” or “to stick to something.”
- ik houd me eraan therefore means “I stick to it” or “I follow it” (the advice).
The verb houden here is pronominal: zich houden aan. Every subject needs a reflexive pronoun:
- ik houd me aan
- jij houdt je aan
- hij houdt zich aan
er is a placeholder pronoun pointing back to the advice clause dat regelmatig wandelen gezond is. It stands in for “aan dat [advies]” (“to that advice”).
- ik hou me eraan and ik houd me eraan are both correct; the -d in the first person singular is optional in modern Dutch.
- daaraan is also grammatically correct but slightly more formal than eraan.
In Dutch you usually don’t need a comma before en, even when joining two main clauses. It’s allowed here to signal a pause (“… gezond is, en ik houd me eraan”), but omitting the comma is equally acceptable.
Both are right for the first person singular present:
- ik hou (common colloquial form)
- ik houd (more conservative spelling)
They both follow Dutch spelling rules for verbs ending in -den.