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Die voortgang geeft ons extra energie om het programma vol te houden.

Die voortgang geeft ons extra energie om het programma vol te houden.
That progress gives us extra energy to keep up with the program.
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Questions & Answers about Die voortgang geeft ons extra energie om het programma vol te houden.

What does die mean here, and why is it die voortgang and not de voortgang or dat voortgang?

Die here is a demonstrative determiner meaning that (as in that progress).

  • de voortgang = the progress
  • die voortgang = that progress (the one we were just talking about)

In Dutch, demonstratives work like this:

  • die = that (for de-words and for plurals)
  • dat = that (for het-words and for singular pronouns like dat = that thing)

Since voortgang is a de-word (de voortgang), the matching demonstrative is die, not dat.

So:

  • die voortgang = that progress
  • dat probleem = that problem (because het probleem)
What is the nuance of voortgang? Why not use vooruitgang or progressie?

All three can relate to progress, but they’re not used in exactly the same way.

  • voortgang

    • Core idea: continuation, ongoing progress of something that is underway.
    • Often used for the progress of a process, project, program, meeting, work, etc.
    • Examples:
      • De voortgang van het project is goed. – The progress of the project is good.
      • We bespreken de voortgang in de vergadering. – We discuss the progress in the meeting.

  • vooruitgang

    • Core idea: improvement, advancement, moving forward compared to before.
    • Often used in the sense of development, improvement over time:
      • Er is veel vooruitgang in de geneeskunde. – There is a lot of progress in medicine.
      • Ik zie vooruitgang in je Nederlands. – I see progress (improvement) in your Dutch.

  • progressie

    • Less common and more formal/technical; often in contexts like medicine, sports, or science:
      • De ziekte vertoont progressie. – The disease is progressing.
      • Hij maakt goede progressie in zijn training.

In your sentence, we are talking about how far the program has come, like its ongoing progress as a process. That’s why voortgang is the most natural choice.

Why is ons placed before extra energie? Could we say Die voortgang geeft extra energie aan ons instead?

In Dutch, when you have:

  • a pronoun as an indirect object (ons, me, hen)
  • and a noun as the direct object (extra energie)

the usual order is:

subject – verb – indirect object pronoun – direct object noun

So:

  • Die voortgang geeft ons extra energie.
    • Die voortgang (subject)
    • geeft (verb)
    • ons (indirect object, pronoun)
    • extra energie (direct object, noun)

This is the most natural, idiomatic word order.

You can say Die voortgang geeft extra energie aan ons, and it’s grammatically OK, but:

  • it sounds more formal or marked
  • it puts extra emphasis on aan ons (to us, specifically)
  • in everyday speech, people strongly prefer geeft ons extra energie
What is the function of om … te in om het programma vol te houden? Can you leave om out?

Om … te + infinitive is a very common way in Dutch to express purpose or intention, similar to English to … or in order to ….

  • om het programma vol te houden ≈ (in order) to keep up the program

Structure:

  • om
    • [object / other material] + te
      • [infinitive]

Here:

  • om = marks the purpose clause
  • het programma = object of the verb
  • vol te houden = infinitive form of volhouden

About leaving om out:

  • Often, after adjectives and some verbs, you can have just te + infinitive:
    • Het is moeilijk te begrijpen. – It is hard to understand.
  • But after a noun expressing something usable for a purpose (energie, tijd, geld, etc.), Dutch normally needs om:
    • Ik heb tijd om te lezen. – I have time to read.
    • We hebben energie om door te werken. – We have energy to continue working.

So:

  • Die voortgang geeft ons extra energie om het programma vol te houden. ✅
  • Die voortgang geeft ons extra energie het programma vol te houden. ❌ (sounds wrong to native speakers)
What exactly does vol te houden mean, and why is it split like that?

The basic verb here is volhouden, which is a separable verb (scheidbaar werkwoord).

  • volhouden = to persevere, to keep something up, to stick with it

With separable verbs:

  • In a main clause: the prefix goes to the end.
    • Ik houd het programma vol. – I keep up the program.
  • In a te-infinitive or after a modal verb, the verb is written together, and te (if present) goes in between the prefix and the stem:
    • het programma volhouden – to keep up the program
    • het programma vol te houden – to keep up the program (with om … te)

Pattern:

  • volhouden → vol te houden
  • doorgaan → door te gaan
  • opstaan → op te staan

So vol te houden is just the te-infinitive form of volhouden.

Why is it het programma vol te houden and not het programma te volhouden?

With separable verbs like volhouden, their parts rearrange in a specific way in te-infinitive constructions:

  • Base form: volhouden
    • vol = separable prefix
    • houden = main verb

Rule: in te-infinitives of separable verbs:

prefix + te + main verb

So:

  • volhouden → vol te houden
  • not te volhouden

Examples:

  • Hij probeert op te staan. – He tries to get up.
    (opstaan → op te staan, not te opstaan)
  • Ze belooft door te gaan. – She promises to continue.
    (doorgaan → door te gaan, not te doorgaan)

That’s why the correct order is het programma vol te houden.

Could we say om het programma volhouden instead of om het programma vol te houden?

In this sentence, no. You need the te for the infinitive construction.

Compare:

  • Bare infinitive (without te) usually comes after modal verbs like kunnen, moeten, willen, zullen:

    • We willen het programma volhouden. – We want to keep up the program.
    • We kunnen het programma volhouden. – We can keep up the program.

  • After om, you normally use om … te + infinitive:

    • om het programma vol te houden – to keep up the program

So:

  • om het programma vol te houden ✅
  • om het programma volhouden ❌ (ungrammatical in standard Dutch)
Why do we need the article het before programma? Could we say om programma vol te houden?

In Dutch, countable singular nouns almost always need an article (or another determiner like mijn, dat, elk etc.). You can’t usually leave it out the way English sometimes does.

  • English: to keep up the program / to keep up a program / to keep up programs
  • Dutch:
    • om het programma vol te houden (the program)
    • om een programma vol te houden (a program)
    • om programma’s vol te houden (programs, plural)

So om programma vol te houden (without any article or plural) sounds wrong, unless programma is being used in a very special technical way as an uncountable noun (which is not the case here).

Here, they are clearly referring to a specific program, so het programma is correct and natural.

Why is it het programma and not de programma?

Noun gender in Dutch is partly arbitrary and must often be memorised:

  • het-words: neuter nouns (use het as definite article, dit/dat as demonstratives)
  • de-words: common gender nouns (use de, die)

programma happens to be a het-word:

  • het programma
  • dat programma (that program)
  • plural: de programma’s

There’s no simple rule that tells you in advance that programma is het. Many abstract or foreign-sounding words are het, but there are lots of exceptions. Learners usually need to learn the article together with the noun:

  • het programma (the program)
  • de voortgang (the progress)
  • het probleem (the problem)
  • de vergadering (the meeting)
Could the last part be phrased differently, like om door te gaan met het programma? Is there any difference in meaning compared with om het programma vol te houden?

Yes, you could say:

  • Die voortgang geeft ons extra energie om door te gaan met het programma.

This is grammatically correct and natural. The nuance is slightly different:

  • het programma volhouden

    • Focus on perseverance, not giving up, staying committed even if it’s tough.
    • Strong implication of effort and endurance.

  • doorgaan met het programma

    • Focus on continuing with the program.
    • More neutral; it doesn’t emphasize the struggle or effort as strongly.

In many contexts they overlap and could both be translated as to continue the program, but:

  • If you want to stress sticking with it / keeping it up, volhouden is more expressive.
  • If you just mean keep going, doorgaan met is a bit more neutral.