Breakdown of Deze samenvattingen helpen mij om verbanden tussen de nieuwe begrippen te zien.
Questions & Answers about Deze samenvattingen helpen mij om verbanden tussen de nieuwe begrippen te zien.
In Dutch, dit and dat are only used with singular neuter nouns (words that take het).
- dit boek (this book) – boek is het boek
- dat huis (that house) – huis is het huis
Deze and die are used with:
- all plural nouns, regardless of gender
- singular de-words (common gender)
So:
- de samenvatting → plural: de samenvattingen
- All plurals use de, so you must use deze: deze samenvattingen.
✗ dit samenvattingen is always wrong, because dit cannot be used with a plural noun.
Samenvattingen is the plural of samenvatting.
- samenvatting = summary
- samenvattingen = summaries
It comes from the verb samenvatten (to summarize, to sum up):
- Ik vat de tekst samen. – I summarize the text.
- De samenvatting van de tekst – the summary of the text.
So Deze samenvattingen = These summaries.
Dutch, like English, uses different forms for subject and object pronouns.
- ik = I (subject)
- mij / me = me (object)
In this sentence, I am not doing the helping; the summaries are doing the helping.
- Deze samenvattingen = subject → they help
- mij = object → they help me
So the structure is:
- Deze samenvattingen (subject)
- helpen (verb)
- mij (object)
✗ helpen ik is incorrect because ik cannot be used as an object.
Mij and me both mean me, but:
- mij = strong form (stressed, more emphasis)
- me = weak form (unstressed, more neutral/common in speech)
In this sentence, you can say:
- Deze samenvattingen helpen mij om … te zien. – a bit more emphasis on me
- Deze samenvattingen helpen me om … te zien. – very natural, neutral in everyday speech
Both are grammatically correct. Using mij here doesn’t make it more formal; it just sounds a bit more emphasized or careful.
Dutch often uses the construction om … te + infinitive to introduce a purpose or result clause, similar to in order to / to in English.
Here:
- om verbanden tussen de nieuwe begrippen te zien
≈ to see connections between the new concepts
(literally: in order to see connections…)
om … te + infinitive is a standard way to express “to do X” as a goal or result, especially after verbs like:
- proberen om … te – try to …
- leren om … te – learn to …
- helpen (om) … te – help to …
So om … te zien is the natural infinitive structure here.
Yes. With helpen, both forms are correct:
- Deze samenvattingen helpen mij om verbanden … te zien.
- Deze samenvattingen helpen mij verbanden … te zien.
Leaving out om makes the sentence a bit more concise and is very common, especially in spoken Dutch. Including om sounds slightly more explicit and careful, but there is no real difference in meaning here. Both are natural.
Dutch tends to put infinitive verbs at the end of the clause.
The phrase om verbanden tussen de nieuwe begrippen te zien works as one infinitive clause:
- om
- verbanden tussen de nieuwe begrippen (objects and modifiers)
- te
- zien (infinitive) at the end
So the order is:
[om] + [things you want to see] + [te zien]
You cannot move zien earlier in the clause:
- ✗ om te zien verbanden tussen de nieuwe begrippen (wrong word order)
The correct structure keeps te zien together at the end of that clause.
Verbanden is the plural of verband. In this context, it means:
- connections / relationships / links (between ideas, facts, concepts)
Examples:
- Ik zie geen verband tussen die twee gebeurtenissen.
I don’t see a connection between those two events.
Compared to similar words:
- relaties – relationships (often between people or entities, can be personal, business, etc.)
- connecties – more like contacts or connections in a social/networking sense
Verbanden is the most natural word when you’re talking about logical or conceptual connections between ideas, terms, or concepts, like in a textbook or course.
Begrippen is the plural of begrip.
- het begrip – the concept / the notion / the term
- de begrippen – the concepts / the terms
Notice the pattern:
- Singular het begrip → plural de begrippen
(all plurals take de in Dutch)
So:
- singular: het begrip
- plural: de begrippen
- in the sentence: tussen de nieuwe begrippen = between the new concepts
Even though begrip is a het-word in the singular, its plural still uses de. That’s why you say de begrippen, not het begrippen.
Dutch adjectives usually take an -e ending when they come before a noun with a determiner (like de, het, een, mijn, die, etc.), except in one specific singular neuter case.
Here we have:
- de (plural article)
- nieuwe (adjective)
- begrippen (plural noun)
Rule for plurals:
→ All plural nouns take an adjective with -e.
So:
- de nieuwe begrippen – the new concepts
- oude boeken – old books
- mooie huizen – beautiful houses
Only in singular neuter with een or no article do you get no -e:
- een nieuw begrip – a new concept (singular, neuter, with een)
- nieuw begrip is moeilijk – new concept is difficult
But in the sentence we have a plural, so it must be nieuwe begrippen.
Yes, you could say:
- Deze samenvattingen helpen mij om de verbanden tussen de nieuwe begrippen te zien.
The difference is subtle:
- verbanden (no article) → connections in general, not necessarily specific, known ones
- de verbanden → the specific connections, as if the speaker assumes there are definite, identifiable links that the summaries help to reveal.
In many contexts, both could sound natural, but:
- With de verbanden, you sound more like you already know (or assume) that specific connections exist.
- Without de, you speak more generally about seeing connections.
In the original sentence, the more general verbanden (without de) fits well with learning and understanding new concepts in general.