Learn Hardcore Dutch: In de trein kan zij zich moeilijk concentreren, want ze wordt steeds afgeleid door praatgrage mensen. - On the train she can hardly concentrate, because she keeps getting distracted by talkative people.

Zij kan zich moeilijk concentreren in de trein.
Neutral order: subject (zij) first, then the rest.
In de trein kan zij zich moeilijk concentreren.
Here In de trein is put at the beginning to highlight the place: on the train is the context. Dutch allows you to put another element first for emphasis, but then the finite verb (kan) must move to the second position. This is the verb-second (V2) rule in main clauses.

So:

First position: In de trein (place).
Second position: kan (finite verb).
Then the subject: zij.
Then the rest: zich moeilijk concentreren.

English often keeps she first even when emphasizing place, but Dutch very regularly uses this kind of inversion for emphasis or flow.

What is the difference between zij and ze in this sentence?

Both zij and ze mean she.

zij is the stressed or emphatic form.
ze is the unstressed or weak form.

In the sentence:

In de trein kan zij zich moeilijk concentreren…
Using zij can subtly emphasize she (as opposed to someone else), or just sound a bit more formal or careful.
…want ze wordt steeds afgeleid…
The second time, ze is unstressed and flows more naturally in spoken Dutch.

You could technically also say:

In de trein kan ze zich moeilijk concentreren, want zij wordt steeds afgeleid…

That would put extra emphasis on zij in the second clause (for contrast, like “she is constantly distracted”).

Why do you need zich with concentreren? Could you just say zij kan moeilijk concentreren?

In Dutch, zich concentreren is reflexive and is normally used with zich:

zich concentreren (op iets) = to concentrate (on something).

Without zich, concentreren is usually the transitive verb “to concentrate something” (e.g. to concentrate a solution), which is much less common in everyday language.

So:

✔ Zij kan zich moeilijk concentreren.
✔ Zij kan zich moeilijk concentreren op haar werk.
✖ Zij kan moeilijk concentreren. (sounds wrong in standard Dutch in this sense)

English doesn’t use a reflexive pronoun here (“she can’t concentrate well”), but Dutch generally does with this verb.

Why is the order zich moeilijk concentreren and not moeilijk zich concentreren?

The usual order in Dutch for a phrase like this is:

[reflexive pronoun] + [adverb] + [infinitive verb]

So:

zich moeilijk concentreren
= reflexive (zich) + adverb (moeilijk) + verb (concentreren)

Other examples:

zich goed voelen (to feel good)
zich snel aanpassen (to adapt quickly)

You could say moeilijk concentreren in some contexts (without zich, or moved together in another structure), but moeilijk zich concentreren is not a natural order in this kind of clause.

Why is it In de trein and not op de trein or met de trein?

The preposition depends on what you want to express:

in de trein = inside the train, referring to the location.
→ That’s what we need here: she is in the train and cannot concentrate there.
op de trein literally means on top of the train and would usually sound wrong or funny in this context (unless someone is literally on the roof).
met de trein = by train / using the train, referring to the means of transport, not the location.
Example: Zij reist elke dag met de trein. (She travels by train every day.)

So for where she is trying to concentrate, in de trein is the correct choice.

Why is want used instead of omdat? Do they mean the same?

Both want and omdat can be translated as because, but they behave differently:

want is a coordinating conjunction:
- It links two main clauses.
- Word order after want stays like a normal main clause: the finite verb remains in second position.
In the sentence:
- …zij kan zich moeilijk concentreren, want ze wordt steeds afgeleid…
  After want, we get: ze wordt (subject + finite verb) → normal main clause order.
omdat is a subordinating conjunction:
- It introduces a subordinate clause.
- In that clause, the finite verb moves to the end.
Alternative:
- …zij kan zich moeilijk concentreren, omdat ze steeds wordt afgeleid door praatgrage mensen.

So:

want feels a bit more like giving an explanation or justification, often slightly more informal or conversational.
omdat is stylistically neutral and required when you need clear subordination or more complex sentence structure.

Both are possible here, but the word order changes with omdat.

What exactly does wordt steeds afgeleid mean, and why is it a passive form?

wordt steeds afgeleid literally means is continually being distracted.

afleiden = to distract (active verb)
iemand afleiden = to distract someone
iemand wordt afgeleid = someone is distracted (passive: someone undergoes the action)

Form:

wordt = third person singular of worden (to become / to be, used for passive in the present).
afgeleid = past participle of afleiden.

So ze wordt afgeleid = she is being distracted (by someone/something).

An active version would be:

Praatgrage mensen leiden haar steeds af.
(= Talkative people keep distracting her.)

The passive form focuses on her as the one affected, instead of the people as the doers.

Why do you use door before praatgrage mensen?

In Dutch passive sentences, the agent (the one who does the action) is usually introduced with door:

Ze wordt afgeleid door praatgrage mensen.
= She is distracted by talkative people.

Pattern:

passive subject + worden + past participle + door + agent

Examples:

Hij wordt geholpen door zijn collega. (He is helped by his colleague.)
De stad werd verwoest door de storm. (The city was destroyed by the storm.)

You could say van praatgrage mensen in some informal contexts, but door is the standard preposition for the agent in a passive construction.

What does praatgrage mean, and how is this word formed?

praatgrage is an adjective meaning talkative, keen to talk, eager to chat.

Formation:

praten = to talk
praatgraag = an adjective, literally something like “liking to talk / fond of talking”
praatgrage mensen = talkative people

In praatgrage mensen, the adjective gets an -e ending because:

It comes before a noun (mensen),
The noun is plural and has a determiner (here implicit, but plural almost always gets the -e).

Compare:

praatgraag (predicative):
Die mensen zijn erg praatgraag. (Those people are very talkative.)
praatgrage mensen (attributive, before the noun, so -e):
praatgrage mensen (talkative people)

Why does praatgrage get an -e, but moeilijk does not?

Two different adjective uses:

praatgrage before a noun:
- praatgrage mensen → adjective before a plural noun.
- In this position (attributive), adjectives in Dutch normally get an -e ending when:
  - There is a determiner (or it’s plural),
  - Except some special cases with indefinite neuter singular.
So praatgraag → praatgrage.
moeilijk before an infinitive (not a noun):
- zich moeilijk concentreren
  Here moeilijk is an adverbial-like modifier of the verb phrase zich concentreren, not an adjective directly modifying a noun.
- Because it’s not in front of a noun, it does not get the -e.

Summary:

praatgrage mensen → adjective + noun → -e needed.
moeilijk concentreren → adverb-like before verb → no -e.

What does steeds add to the meaning? How is it different from altijd or de hele tijd?

steeds here means repeatedly, again and again, or constantly.

Nuance:

steeds: emphasizes repetition or a pattern over time.
- Ze wordt steeds afgeleid. = She keeps getting distracted (again and again).
altijd: literally always, usually more absolute.
- Ze wordt altijd afgeleid. = She always gets distracted (almost every time / in general).
de hele tijd: “all the time”, very continuous and informal.
- Ze wordt de hele tijd afgeleid. = She is distracted all the time (almost without interruption).

In this sentence, steeds nicely conveys that on the train, distractions keep coming back; it’s not just a one-off.

Could the word order be In de trein kan zij moeilijk zich concentreren or …want ze steeds wordt afgeleid…?

No, both alternatives sound ungrammatical or at least very unnatural.

In de trein kan zij moeilijk zich concentreren
- The reflexive pronoun usually stays directly in front of its verb:
  - ✔ zij kan zich moeilijk concentreren
  - ✖ zij kan moeilijk zich concentreren
…want ze steeds wordt afgeleid…
- In a main clause after want, the usual order is:
  - Subject → (adverbs) → finite verb → participle, etc.
- So:
  - ✔ want ze wordt steeds afgeleid
    (subject ze, finite verb wordt, adverb steeds, participle afgeleid)
  - ✖ want ze steeds wordt afgeleid

The given word order follows standard Dutch patterns for reflexive verbs and adverb placement.