Learn Hardcore Dutch: De professor is aan het uitleggen hoe wij ons beter kunnen concentreren en onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden tijdens het tentamen. - The professor is explaining how we can concentrate better and keep up our motivation during the exam.

De professor legt uit
= The professor explains / is explaining (simple present, also used for current actions in Dutch).
De professor is aan het uitleggen
= The professor is in the middle of explaining (a progressive form, stressing the ongoing process right now).

"aan het + infinitive" is used to emphasize that an action is currently in progress. It often sounds a bit more informal or spoken than the simple present, which is already very common for current actions in Dutch.

Why is the word order "hoe wij ons beter kunnen concentreren" and not more like English "how we can better concentrate ourselves"?

In Dutch subordinate clauses (those introduced by words like hoe, dat, omdat, wanneer), the finite verb goes to the end of the clause.

Structure here:

hoe – subordinator (“how”)
wij – subject (“we”)
ons – reflexive pronoun (“ourselves”)
beter – adverb (“better”)
kunnen – modal verb (“can”)
concentreren – main verb (“concentrate”)

So in Dutch subordinate clauses with a modal:

[hoe] [wij] [ons] [beter] [kunnen] [concentreren]

The English order (how we can better concentrate ourselves) cannot be copied; Dutch grammar requires the finite verb (kunnen) and the infinitive (concentreren) at the end of the clause.

Why do we say "wij ons beter kunnen concentreren" and not just "wij beter kunnen concentreren"?

The verb zich concentreren (“to concentrate”) is reflexive in Dutch, so it normally needs a reflexive pronoun:

ik concentreer me
jij concentreert je
hij/zij concentreert zich
wij concentreren ons
jullie concentreren je
zij concentreren zich

In the infinitive or with a modal, that pronoun still appears:

wij kunnen ons concentreren – we can concentrate (ourselves)

So "wij ons beter kunnen concentreren" is the correct form because ons is required by the reflexive verb zich concentreren.
Without ons, the sentence sounds ungrammatical to a native speaker.

What is the difference between "wij" and "we" in Dutch?

Both mean “we”, but there’s a difference in emphasis and style:

wij – stressed form
Used when you want to emphasize the subject or contrast it with someone else.
> Wij kunnen ons beter concentreren (maar zij niet).
> We can concentrate better (but they can’t).
we – unstressed, more neutral
Most common in normal speech and writing when there’s no special emphasis.

In this sentence, wij is fine; we would also be grammatically correct and probably more natural in everyday speech:

hoe we ons beter kunnen concentreren…

What exactly does "beter" modify in "ons beter kunnen concentreren"?

Beter is an adverb here and modifies the quality of the concentrating, not “can”:

ons beter kunnen concentreren
= to be able to concentrate better

Word-by-word feel:

ons concentreren – concentrate ourselves
beter concentreren – concentrate better
kunnen beter concentreren – (not the right Dutch order)
beter kunnen concentreren – be able to concentrate better

So semantically it’s just like English “better concentrate”, but the modal kunnen must appear near the end of the clause in Dutch subordinate word order.

Why is it "onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden" and where does "vasthouden" come from?

Vasthouden is a separable verb:

vast – “firm(ly), tight”
houden – “to hold”

Together: vasthouden = to hold on to / to keep / to maintain.

In normal main-clause present tense you’d separate it:

We houden onze motivatie vast. – We keep/hold on to our motivation.

But with a modal verb and in a subordinate clause, you use the infinitive at the end, not split:

…hoe wij onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden.

So:

onze motivatie – direct object (our motivation)
kunnen vasthouden – can keep / can hold on to

You cannot separate vasthouden here; *kunnen vast houden in this position would be wrong.

Why is it "onze motivatie" and not "ons motivatie"?

Because motivatie is a “de”-word in Dutch:

de motivatie – the motivation

For “de”-words in the singular, the possessive is:

mijn / jouw / zijn / haar / onze / jullie / hun
(not ons).

So:

onze motivatie – our motivation
but
ons huis – our house (huis is a “het”-word).

That’s why you see onze motivatie here.

Why is there "kunnen" twice: "beter kunnen concentreren en onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden"? Is the second "kunnen" necessary?

The second kunnen is not strictly necessary, but it is perfectly correct and a bit clearer:

With repetition (as in the sentence): > hoe wij ons beter kunnen concentreren en onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden
Emphasizes that both actions are things we can do.
Without repetition: > hoe wij ons beter kunnen concentreren en onze motivatie vasthouden
Also grammatical. Here the modal kunnen is “understood” for both verbs.

Both versions are used in real Dutch.
Repeating kunnen often feels a bit more careful, clear, or formal; omitting the second kunnen is slightly more compact and colloquial.

Why is there no comma before "en onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden"?

Because this is not a new full clause; it’s just another verb phrase sharing the same subject:

[hoe wij] [ons beter kunnen concentreren] en [onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden]

There’s only one subject (wij) and one subordinating word (hoe). The part after en is just a second, coordinated verb phrase, not an entire new clause with its own subject and finite verb in second position.

In Dutch, you normally don’t put a comma in front of en when you’re simply connecting two phrases of the same type inside one clause.

How does "tijdens het tentamen" work, and why not "in het tentamen" or "bij het tentamen"?

Tijdens means “during” and is the most natural preposition here:

tijdens het tentamen – during the exam

Using in or bij would sound odd or change the meaning:

in het tentamen – not idiomatic; would suggest physically “inside” the exam.
bij het tentamen – can sometimes be used, but sounds more like “at the exam” as an event/location rather than during the process.

For talking about the time period in which you need concentration and motivation (the duration of the written exam), tijdens is the standard choice.

What exactly does "tentamen" mean? Is it the same as "examen"?

Both are related to tests/exams, but usage can differ by country and institution.

Roughly:

het tentamen
Often: an exam for a single course or module, especially at university.
For example, the written exam in Week 7 of a course.
het examen
More general: exam, often a final exam, or the overall exam that gives you a diploma (e.g. eindexamen in secondary school).

So in this sentence, tijdens het tentamen suggests during a specific course exam, not necessarily a big final graduation exam.

Why is the verb order "kunnen vasthouden" at the end and not "vasthouden kunnen" or something closer to English word order?

In Dutch subordinate clauses with more than one verb (like a modal + main verb), the finite verb tends to come before the infinitive at the end of the clause:

modal kunnen (finite)
main verb vasthouden (infinitive)

So:

…hoe wij onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden…

Alternative orders like vasthouden kunnen can sometimes appear in spoken or regional Dutch in other contexts, but the standard, neutral order in this type of clause is:

[subject] … [finite verb] [infinitive]
wij … kunnen vasthouden

Could the sentence be phrased differently, for example "De professor legt uit hoe we ons beter kunnen concentreren…"? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can rephrase in several natural ways without really changing the meaning:

Replace the progressive:
- De professor legt uit hoe wij/we ons beter kunnen concentreren en onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden tijdens het tentamen.
This is slightly more neutral and very common in written Dutch.
Use we instead of wij:
- hoe we ons beter kunnen concentreren…
  More colloquial / neutral in tone.
Move tijdens het tentamen:
- …hoe wij ons tijdens het tentamen beter kunnen concentreren en onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden.
- …hoe wij ons beter kunnen concentreren en tijdens het tentamen onze motivatie kunnen vasthouden.

All of these are grammatical and mean essentially the same thing. The original version is natural and correct; the changes just adjust style and slight emphasis.