Breakdown of Als je echt verslaafd bent, is het moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen.
Questions & Answers about Als je echt verslaafd bent, is het moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen.
In Dutch, a clause that begins with a subordinator like als (if/when) is a subordinate clause.
In subordinate clauses, the finite verb goes to the end of the clause. So:
- Main clause: Je bent echt verslaafd. (You are really addicted.)
→ word order: subject (je) + verb (bent) + rest - Subordinate clause with als: Als je echt verslaafd bent
→ als- subject (je) + rest (echt verslaafd) + verb (bent)
This is standard Dutch word order:
- main clause: verb in second position
- subordinate clause: verb at the end
The full sentence is:
Als je echt verslaafd bent, is het moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen.
The part Als je echt verslaafd bent counts as the first element in the overall sentence. Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position.
So the next clause has to start with the verb:
- First position: the whole clause Als je echt verslaafd bent
- Second position: the verb is
- Then the subject: het
- Then the rest: moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen
So we get: … , is het moeilijk …, not …, het is moeilijk ….
If you removed the als-clause, you would say:
Het is moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen.
Here het is in first position and is in second position, so that’s also correct V2 word order.
In Het is moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen, het is mostly a dummy subject (also called an expletive), similar to English “it” in:
- It is hard to stop after one episode.
The real “content” of the sentence is the infinitive clause om na één aflevering te stoppen (“to stop after one episode”), but Dutch (like English) normally doesn’t start with a long infinitive phrase as the grammatical subject. Instead, it uses a formal subject het, and the infinitive phrase comes later:
- Het (formal subject)
- is moeilijk (is difficult)
- om na één aflevering te stoppen (to stop after one episode)
So het doesn’t refer to any concrete thing; it’s a grammatical “placeholder” subject.
Om … te + infinitive is a very common Dutch construction, roughly matching English “to + verb” when it expresses purpose or result or functions as a complement after certain adjectives and verbs.
In this sentence:
- moeilijk (difficult)
- om … te stoppen (to stop)
Structure:
- om introduces the infinitive clause
- te comes right before the infinitive verb (stoppen)
So we have:
- om
- [ time phrase na één aflevering ] + te stoppen
You could think of it as:
“It is difficult in order to stop after one episode”, but in natural English we just say:
“It is difficult to stop after one episode.”
A simplified pattern:
- Het is moeilijk om dit te begrijpen.
→ It is hard to understand this.
English usually only uses to, but Dutch uses om … te around the infinitive phrase.
Yes, na één aflevering can be moved, and all of these are grammatically possible:
- Het is moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen. (most natural)
- Het is moeilijk om te stoppen na één aflevering.
The first version (from the original sentence) is the most typical and smooth: adverbials like na één aflevering often come between om and te + verb.
Putting it after te stoppen is still correct, but sounds slightly heavier or more marked in rhythm. In everyday speech and writing, om na X te + infinitive is extremely common and preferred.
Dutch has:
- één (with accent) = the number “one”
- een (without accent) = the indefinite article “a / an”
In this sentence, the meaning is “after one episode (and not more)”, so the number is meant. That’s why it’s written as één.
Compare:
- Na één aflevering stop ik.
→ After one episode I stop (specifically one, not two, not three). - Na een aflevering stop ik.
→ After an episode I stop (one episode, but not emphasizing “one exactly”).
In many contexts, één also has a bit of emphasis, like English “one single episode”.
The full pattern is indeed:
- verslaafd zijn aan iets = to be addicted to something
For example:
- Ik ben verslaafd aan chocolade.
- Ze is verslaafd aan Netflix-series.
In the example sentence, the thing you’re addicted to is understood from context (e.g. a show, a series, binge-watching), so Dutch can omit the “aan …” phrase and just say:
- Als je echt verslaafd bent, …
→ “If you’re really addicted, …”
It’s similar to English: in context you can also say just “If you’re really addicted, it’s hard to stop” without repeating addicted to what.
Verslaafd literally means addicted, like to drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc.
However, in everyday language it’s also used figuratively, like English “addicted to this series”, “addicted to my phone”, often meaning “obsessed with / can’t stop”.
Echt verslaafd means “truly / really addicted” and can be:
- literal: genuinely dependent (e.g. on substances or behavior), or
- emphatic, figurative: you really can’t stop watching.
Context (talking about “episodes”) makes it sound more like a strong exaggeration / figurative addiction than a medical diagnosis.
Dutch has both:
- je = unstressed form of “you”
- jij = stressed form of “you” (often with emphasis or contrast)
In neutral sentences, je is more common and sounds more natural:
- Als je echt verslaafd bent, … (normal, neutral)
You would use jij to put emphasis on the subject, often in contrast to someone else:
- Als jij echt verslaafd bent, moet jij hulp zoeken.
→ If *you are really addicted (as opposed to others), you should seek help.*
In the given sentence, there is no special contrast or emphasis, so je is the natural choice.
In Dutch, when a subordinate clause (introduced by words like als, omdat, terwijl, hoewel etc.) comes before the main clause, it is normally followed by a comma:
- Als je echt verslaafd bent, is het moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen.
- Omdat het regent, blijf ik thuis.
If the main clause comes first, you usually don’t put a comma before the subordinate clause:
- Het is moeilijk om na één aflevering te stoppen als je echt verslaafd bent.
- Ik blijf thuis omdat het regent.
So the comma is there because the als-clause is fronted (put at the beginning) before the main clause.