Breakdown of Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren, als ik zo gestrest ben.
Questions & Answers about Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren, als ik zo gestrest ben.
In Dutch, just like in English, when you talk about your opinion of something, you usually use a verb like “vinden” (to find / to think):
- Ik vind het moeilijk. = I find it difficult / I think it is hard.
“Ik ben moeilijk” would mean “I am difficult (as a person)”, i.e. I am a difficult person to deal with. That’s not what you want here.
So:
Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren.
= I find it hard to concentrate.
(My opinion about how hard it is)Ik ben moeilijk.
= I am a difficult person.
Yes, “het” here is a dummy/placeholder “it”, similar to English.
Grammatically, “het” is the object of “vind”, and the real content is in the infinitive clause that follows:
- Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren.
Literally: I find it difficult to concentrate.
You could think of it as:
- Het (it) = the fact / action of concentrating.
Dutch normally cannot say:
✗ Ik vind moeilijk om me te concentreren.
You need this “het” in the structure: Ik vind het + adjective + om te …
Both forms exist in Dutch, but they’re used in slightly different ways.
After adjectives like “moeilijk, leuk, fijn, lastig”, you very often get:
- het + adjective + om te + infinitive
So here:
- Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren.
This is the most natural and common pattern.
You can sometimes drop “om” and just use “te”, especially in shorter or more formal/structured sentences:
- Het is moeilijk te zeggen. (quite formal)
- Moeilijk te geloven.
But with “vinden” + “het” + adjective, “om te …” is strongly preferred in everyday speech:
- ✓ Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren. (normal)
- ? Ik vind het moeilijk te concentreren. (possible but sounds a bit stiff or off)
Dutch has two forms for the first-person singular object pronoun:
- me = unstressed form
- mij = stressed/emphatic form
In neutral sentences where the pronoun is not emphasized, Dutch uses the unstressed form:
- Ik wil me concentreren. = I want to concentrate.
- Ik was me. = I wash myself.
You would use “mij” when you want to emphasize me (and not someone else):
- Hij luistert niet naar mij. = He doesn’t listen to me (but maybe to others).
- Laat mij met rust! = Leave me alone!
In “om me te concentreren”, there is no special emphasis, so “me” is the correct choice.
In Dutch, object pronouns (like me, je, hem, haar, ons) normally come before the infinitive when you have “te + infinitive”:
- om me te concentreren
- om je te helpen (to help you)
- om hem te zien (to see him)
The pattern is:
om + [object pronoun] + te + [infinitive]
So:
- ✓ om me te concentreren
- ✗ om te me concentreren (incorrect word order)
“om me te concentreren” is an infinitive clause. In Dutch:
- In infinitive constructions (with te),
- and in subordinate clauses (introduced by words like als, omdat, dat, wanneer),
the main verb goes to the end of the clause.
So:
- om me te concentreren
- “concentreren” is the main verb, so it goes at the end of this little clause.
- als ik zo gestrest ben
- “ben” goes to the end because this is a subordinate clause introduced by als.
This is a general word order rule in Dutch for these types of clauses.
“Als ik zo gestrest ben” is a subordinate clause (introduced by als = when/if). In Dutch:
- You may put a comma before most subordinate clauses.
- The comma is often recommended when the sentence is a bit long, to make reading easier.
So both are possible:
- Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren als ik zo gestrest ben.
- Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren, als ik zo gestrest ben.
In many modern texts, the comma is optional here and is often left out, but it’s not wrong to include it.
Because “als ik zo gestrest ben” is a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses (with words like als, omdat, dat, wanneer, terwijl, hoewel):
- The finite verb (the conjugated verb) usually goes at the end.
So:
- Ik ben zo gestrest. (main clause: verb in second position)
- Als ik zo gestrest ben… (subordinate clause: verb at the end)
Other examples:
- Ik ga weg, omdat ik moe ben.
- Als het regent, blijf ik thuis.
Yes, that’s grammatically possible and people do say it:
- Ik vind het moeilijk om te concentreren.
However:
- Dutch often prefers the reflexive form with “zich concentreren”, especially when it’s clear that you mean concentrate yourself.
- So “om me te concentreren” sounds a bit more natural and complete in many contexts.
You’ll also hear:
- Ik kan me niet concentreren. (= I can’t concentrate.)
- Het lukt me niet om me te concentreren.
But without “me” is not wrong; it just sounds slightly less idiomatic in some situations.
Some Dutch verbs are reflexive where English verbs are not.
- Dutch: zich concentreren = literally to concentrate oneself
- English: to concentrate
So you normally say:
- Ik concentreer me. = I concentrate (myself).
- Hij kan zich niet concentreren. = He can’t concentrate.
Using the reflexive pronoun (me, je, zich, ons, jullie) is a normal part of the verb in Dutch. You generally must include it:
- ✓ Ik probeer me te concentreren.
- ✗ Ik probeer te concentreren. (feels incomplete or foreign-sounding in many contexts)
Both forms exist, but:
- gestrest is the more common, everyday form meaning stressed (feeling stress).
- gestresseerd also exists but sounds a bit more formal or less common in modern Dutch, and some people even feel it’s slightly influenced by French.
In a normal spoken sentence like this, “gestrest” is the most natural choice:
- Ik ben gestrest. = I am stressed.
- Ik voel me gestrest.
Both als and wanneer can translate to when, but they differ slightly in use:
als
- Very common in spoken Dutch.
- Can mean when (in general situations) or if (conditional).
- Als ik zo gestrest ben, vind ik het moeilijk om me te concentreren.
wanneer
- Also means when,
- Slightly more formal or written in many contexts.
- Often used more in questions: Wanneer kom je? (When are you coming?)
In your sentence, both are grammatically possible:
- Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren als ik zo gestrest ben. (most natural)
- Ik vind het moeilijk om me te concentreren wanneer ik zo gestrest ben. (a bit more formal/bookish)