Het vasthouden van de ladder is vermoeiend.

to be

Breakdown of Het vasthouden van de ladder is vermoeiend.

• vermoeiend: tiring
• de ladder: the ladder
• het vasthouden: the holding

Questions & Answers about Het vasthouden van de ladder is vermoeiend.

Why is there het at the beginning? Is it like English it?

No. Here het is not a dummy subject like English it in It is tiring.

In Het vasthouden van de ladder is vermoeiend, het is the definite article used with a nominalized infinitive. That means the verb vasthouden is being used as a noun-like expression:

• vasthouden = to hold / to keep holding
• het vasthouden = the holding / holding

So the whole subject is Het vasthouden van de ladder = holding the ladder.

What exactly is vasthouden here?

Vasthouden is the infinitive of the separable verb vasthouden.

In this sentence, it is not acting like a normal finite verb. It is being used as a noun-like form after het:

• houden = to hold
• vasthouden = to hold on to / to keep holding

So het vasthouden van de ladder refers to the activity or act of holding the ladder.

Why is vasthouden one word here, but I sometimes see houd ... vast as two parts?