Learn Hardcore Dutch: De docent wil de studenten motiveren om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen. - The teacher wants to motivate the students to practice Dutch every day.

ik wil – I want
jij / je wilt – you want (informal, when jij comes after the verb you can also say wil jij?)
hij / zij / het wil – he / she / it wants
wij / jullie / zij willen – we / you (pl.) / they want

De docent is third person singular (like hij), so it uses wil:

De docent wil ... = The teacher wants ...

Wilt is only for jij/je in standard Dutch, not for hij/zij/de docent.

Why does the verb wil come in the second position in the sentence?

Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule: the conjugated verb (here: wil) must be in the second position of the sentence.

Structure here:

De docent – first element (subject)
wil – conjugated verb in second position
de studenten motiveren om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen – the rest of the information

So you get:

De docent wil de studenten motiveren om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen.

If you move something else to the front, wil still stays second:

Elke dag wil de docent de studenten motiveren om Nederlands te oefenen.

Why is it de docent and not het docent?

Dutch nouns are either de‑words or het‑words. This is grammatical gender and has to be memorized.

de docent – teacher (male or general)
de docente – female teacher

Both docent and docente are de‑words, so you always say:

de docent, de docente (never het docent)

The same happens with de student, de leraar, de man, de vrouw, etc.

Can I say de leraar instead of de docent? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say de leraar; both mean teacher, but there is a nuance:

de leraar / de lerares
- More common in primary and secondary school.
- Feels a bit more “school-like.”
de docent / de docente
- Very common for secondary schools, colleges, universities, courses, and training programs.
- Often sounds slightly more formal or institutional.

In your sentence, both are possible:

De docent wil de studenten motiveren...
De leraar wil de leerlingen motiveren... (often leerlingen instead of studenten in school context)

What exactly does om ... te oefenen do here? Why not just te oefenen?

Om ... te + infinitive expresses purpose or goal, similar to “in order to …” in English.

om Nederlands te oefenen ≈ “(in order) to practice Dutch”

Some verbs in Dutch naturally combine with om te + infinitive, especially when you talk about motivating, persuading, encouraging, etc.:

iemand motiveren om iets te doen – to motivate someone to do something
iemand overtuigen om te blijven – to convince someone to stay
iemand aanmoedigen om te spreken – to encourage someone to speak

With motiveren, using om te is the normal, idiomatic structure.
De docent wil de studenten motiveren te oefenen (without om) sounds incomplete or wrong to native ears.

Could I leave out om and say ... motiveren elke dag Nederlands te oefenen?

No, not in standard Dutch with motiveren in this meaning.

You normally say:

iemand motiveren om ... te + infinitive

For example:

Ze probeert haar team te motiveren om harder te werken.
We willen kinderen motiveren om meer te lezen.

If you drop om, native speakers will find it ungrammatical or at least very odd in this construction. So you need:

... motiveren om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen.

Why are the verbs motiveren and oefenen both at the end of the sentence?

Dutch likes to send infinitives and past participles to the end of the clause.

In the main clause:

The conjugated verb (wil) is in second position.
The other verbs go to the right end.

Here:

wil – conjugated verb (second position)
motiveren – infinitive that depends on wil
oefenen – infinitive that depends on om ... te

So the verb cluster ends up at the right:

De docent wil [de studenten] [motiveren] [om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen].

Inside the infinitive clause, te oefenen also goes to the end:

om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen

Why is Nederlands capitalized and why is there no article (no het)?

Two separate points:

Capitalization
Names of languages are capitalized in Dutch:
- Nederlands, Engels, Duits, Frans, Spaans, etc.
No article
When you talk about speaking, learning, or practicing a language, you normally do not use an article:
- Nederlands leren – to learn Dutch
- Engels spreken – to speak English
- Spaans oefenen – to practice Spanish

So:

Nederlands te oefenen = “to practice Dutch” (no het needed)

You do see het Nederlands when Dutch is treated as a noun meaning “the Dutch language” in a more abstract or contrastive way, e.g.:

Het Nederlands is niet zo moeilijk. – Dutch (the language) is not so difficult.

Could I say om het Nederlands elke dag te oefenen instead of om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen?

You could grammatically say om het Nederlands elke dag te oefenen, but:

Using het here sounds less natural in an everyday context.
It subtly shifts the focus to “the Dutch language (as an object)” rather than just “practising Dutch” as an activity.

Native speakers would normally prefer:

om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen
or possibly:
om elke dag het Nederlands te oefenen in a very specific, contrastive context (for example, when distinguishing between multiple languages).

For a normal learning sentence, om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen is the best, most idiomatic choice.

Can I change the order to om Nederlands elke dag te oefenen?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but the neutral word order in Dutch typically puts time expressions (elke dag) fairly early.

Both are possible:

om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen – neutral, most common
om Nederlands elke dag te oefenen – also correct, but the rhythm/emphasis changes slightly

If you say om Nederlands elke dag te oefenen, you may sound like you are putting a bit more focus on Nederlands (“to practice Dutch every day” rather than something else). But in many contexts, they are interchangeable.

What is the difference between elke dag, iedere dag, and alle dagen?

All three can translate to “every day”, but with small nuances:

elke dag
- Very common, neutral: “every day / each day”
iedere dag
- Also common, very similar to elke dag; sometimes a touch more formal or emphatic.
alle dagen
- Literally “all days”; can sound slightly more emphatic or descriptive (“on all days”), sometimes used in contrast to certain days.

In your sentence, all are possible:

om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen – standard, neutral
om iedere dag Nederlands te oefenen – also fine
om alle dagen Nederlands te oefenen – possible, but less common here; feels more emphatic or stylistic.

Why de studenten and not something like hun or ze? Where would pronouns go?

Here, de studenten is a full noun phrase: “the students.”

If you replace it with a pronoun, you have options:

hen – stressed object form (often after a preposition or when emphasized)
ze – unstressed object form (more neutral, very frequent in speech)

Where they go:

De docent wil hen motiveren om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen.
De docent wil ze motiveren om elke dag Nederlands te oefenen.

The pronoun comes right after the conjugated verb (wil), before motiveren. Using hen makes them a bit more emphasized; ze is the normal, everyday form in speech.