Learn Hardcore Dutch: Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten. - We use the power strip to connect our laptop and phone.

wij is the strong or emphatic form. You use it when you want to stress the subject:
- Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos… = We (as opposed to someone else) use the power strip…
we is the normal, unstressed form, used most of the time in spoken Dutch:
- We gebruiken de stekkerdoos…

In everyday conversation, you are more likely to hear We gebruiken de stekkerdoos…
The version with wij is not wrong; it just sounds a bit more formal or emphatic.

Why is it de stekkerdoos and not een stekkerdoos?

de stekkerdoos = the power strip (a specific one, known from context)
een stekkerdoos = a power strip (any one, not specific)

Using de implies that the speaker and listener know which power strip is meant (for example, the one on the desk, the one they always use, etc.).

If you just want to say something general, you can also say:

Wij gebruiken een stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten.
= We use a power strip to connect our laptop and phone.

Both are grammatically correct; the choice depends on whether you mean a specific or a non‑specific power strip.

What exactly is a stekkerdoos? How is it different from stopcontact or verlengsnoer?

stekkerdoos
- Literally: plug box
- Usually means a power strip or multi-socket extension block with multiple outlets.
stopcontact
- Means a wall socket or outlet in the wall.
verlengsnoer
- Literally: extension cord
- Usually a cable that makes another device’s cable longer. It might or might not have multiple sockets.

In many everyday contexts, stekkerdoos and verlengsnoer get mixed in casual speech, because many extension cords nowadays come with several sockets. But strictly speaking:

stekkerdoos focuses on the multiple sockets part.
verlengsnoer focuses on the cable (the “extension”).
stopcontact is just the socket in the wall (no cable).

Why does Dutch use om … te in om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten?

The pattern om … te + infinitive expresses purpose: in order to do something.

Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos om … aan te sluiten.
= We use the power strip in order to connect …

In English, we often just say to:

We use the power strip *to connect our laptop and phone.*

In Dutch, for this meaning, om … te is the normal, natural pattern:

Ik ga naar de winkel om brood te kopen.
= I’m going to the shop to buy bread.

So here:

om = marks the purpose clause (in order).
te = goes with the infinitive sluiten (here as aan te sluiten because of the separable verb).

Why is it aan te sluiten and not just te aansluiten?

Because aansluiten is a separable verb in Dutch.

Base form: aansluiten = to connect, to plug in
In main clauses with a finite verb, the prefix (aan) goes to the end:
- Ik sluit mijn laptop aan. = I connect my laptop.

When you add te to a separable verb, te goes between the prefix and the main verb:

aan + te + sluiten → aan te sluiten

More examples of separable verbs with te:

afwassen → Ik moet vanavond afwassen. / Ik heb geen zin om vanavond af te wassen.
opruimen → Ze wil haar kamer opruimen. / Ze belooft haar kamer op te ruimen.

So the rule is:

Separable verb + te → prefix + te + main verb
- aan te sluiten
- op te ruimen
- af te wassen

Is aan here a separate preposition or part of the verb aansluiten?

In this sentence, aan is part of the verb aansluiten, not an independent preposition.

Verb: aansluiten (separable)
Conjugated: Ik sluit aan, wij sluiten aan, etc.
With te: aan te sluiten

So you should think of aansluiten as one verb that happens to split in certain positions, not as sluiten with a separate preposition aan.

There is also a construction aansluiten op iets (connect to something), where op is a preposition:

De printer sluit aan op het netwerk.
= The printer connects to the network.

Could we say om onze laptop en telefoon te verbinden instead of aan te sluiten?

You can, but the nuance changes a bit.

aansluiten is the most natural everyday verb when talking about plugging into a power strip, socket, or device.
verbinden is more general: to connect, to join, to link. It is used for:
- connecting people (by phone)
- connecting ideas
- medically: stitching a wound, etc.
- technically: connecting networks, devices, wires

For this specific context (using a power strip), aansluiten sounds more idiomatic and concrete:

Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten. ✅ (very natural)
Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon te verbinden. (understandable, but feels more technical/abstract, less like “plugging in”)

Why is it onze laptop en telefoon and not ons laptop en telefoon?

The choice between ons and onze depends on the gender and number of the noun:

ons is used for singular het-words:
- ons huis (het huis)
- ons idee (het idee)
onze is used for:
- all de-words (singular)
- all plurals, regardless of de/het:
  - onze tafel (de tafel)
  - onze auto (de auto)
  - onze huizen (plural of het huis)
  - onze ideeën (plural of het idee)

Here:

laptop → de laptop
telefoon → de telefoon

Both are de-words, so you use onze:

onze laptop, onze telefoon

If you had a singular het-word, you would use ons:

ons huis, ons kind

Why is gebruiken in second position: Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos …?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule (verb-second):

The finite verb (here gebruiken) must be in second position in the sentence.

The first “position” can be almost any element (subject, time phrase, object, etc.). Whatever you put first, the conjugated verb comes next.

In your sentence:

Wij → first element
gebruiken → finite verb, so it goes in second place
de stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten → the rest of the sentence

Other correct variants (still V2):

Vandaag gebruiken wij de stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten.
(Today we use the power strip to connect our laptop and phone.)

Here Vandaag is first, gebruiken still stays second.

Can you leave out om and just say … te sluiten?

In modern standard Dutch, when you express purpose (in order to…), you almost always use om … te:

Ik gebruik dit om beter te leren.
We hebben een auto om naar ons werk te rijden.

Using only te without om is possible in some fixed expressions or more literary styles, but in everyday language:

om … te = natural and standard
… te (without om) for purpose often sounds old-fashioned or stiff.

So:

Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten. ✅
Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten. ❌ (sounds wrong in normal modern Dutch)

Could I move de stekkerdoos to the end: Wij gebruiken om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten de stekkerdoos?

That word order is grammatically possible but sounds awkward and unnatural in normal Dutch.

In main clauses, Dutch tends to keep:

First element (often the subject)
Finite verb (V2)
The most important objects/complements fairly early,
And then longer purpose or manner phrases later.

Your original sentence follows this preference:

Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten. ✅

Putting de stekkerdoos at the very end feels like you are heavily emphasizing it or speaking in a very stylized way, which is unusual in everyday speech.

So for natural Dutch, keep:

Wij gebruiken de stekkerdoos om onze laptop en telefoon aan te sluiten.