De kip is al te ruiken, want Anna bakt die in de koekenpan.

Here zijn + te + infinitive has a meaning like can be ... or is ...-able.

So De kip is al te ruiken means:

• The chicken can already be smelled
• more naturally in English: You can already smell the chicken

It is not the same as a literal English is to smell. In Dutch, this pattern is fairly common:

• Dat boek is makkelijk te lezen = That book is easy to read
• De deur is niet te openen = The door cannot be opened

So te ruiken here means to be smelled / to smell in the sense of noticeable by smell.

Al means already.

So De kip is al te ruiken suggests that the smell is noticeable already, perhaps even before the food is finished.

It adds a sense like:

• You can already smell the chicken
• The chicken smell is already noticeable

Without al, the sentence would simply state that the chicken can be smelled. With al, it emphasizes that this is happening now, sooner than expected, or at this stage.

Want means because, but it behaves differently from some other Dutch words for because.

With want, the clause after it keeps normal main-clause word order:

• ..., want Anna bakt die in de koekenpan.

So the verb bakt stays in second position.

Compare that with omdat:

• ..., omdat Anna die in de koekenpan bakt.

After omdat, the verb usually goes to the end.

So a learner often notices this contrast:

• want = coordinating conjunction, normal word order
• omdat = subordinating conjunction, verb goes to the end

Because after want, Dutch uses main clause word order.

In a main clause, the finite verb usually comes in second position:

• Anna = first element
• bakt = finite verb in second position
• die = object
• in de koekenpan = extra information about where/how

So:

• Anna bakt die in de koekenpan

is a normal Dutch main clause.

If the sentence had used omdat, you would usually get:

• ..., omdat Anna die in de koekenpan bakt

with bakt at the end.

Die refers back to de kip.

So in English it is basically it:

• ..., because Anna is frying it in the frying pan.

Dutch often uses die or dat as a demonstrative pronoun to refer back to something already mentioned.

Since kip is a de-word, the pronoun is die.

If it were a het-word, you would usually expect dat instead:

• het boek → dat
• de kip → die

Dutch often uses a demonstrative pronoun like die to refer back to a noun in a slightly more pointed or natural spoken way.

So all of these are possible in different contexts:

• Anna bakt de kip in de koekenpan
• Anna bakt die in de koekenpan
• Anna bakt hem in de koekenpan

But they do not feel exactly the same.

• de kip: repeats the noun directly
• die: points back to the previously mentioned noun; very common and natural
• hem: possible as a personal pronoun, but often less natural here than die

For learners, the important point is that die is often used where English would simply say it.

Because kip is a de-word in Dutch.

Dutch nouns are divided into:

• de-words
• het-words

You usually just have to learn which article belongs to each noun. For kip, the correct article is de:

• de kip = the chicken

This also affects the pronoun later:

• de kip → die
• not dat

So the article and the pronoun match each other.

Not necessarily in the narrow English sense.

Dutch bakken is broader than English to bake. It can refer to cooking in a pan as well as baking, depending on context.

Because the sentence says in de koekenpan, the meaning is clearly something like:

• fries
• pan-fries
• cooks in the frying pan

So although bakt is from bakken, the best English translation here is probably not bakes, but something more like fries or is cooking.

In de koekenpan means in the frying pan.

• koekenpan = frying pan / skillet
• in de koekenpan = in the frying pan

English often says in the pan or sometimes in a frying pan, so this is quite straightforward.

Dutch uses in here naturally with a pan. In English, depending on style, we might also say in the frying pan.

Dutch often allows this kind of structure where the thing being perceived becomes the subject.

So instead of saying:

• Je kunt de kip al ruiken = You can already smell the chicken

the sentence says:

• De kip is al te ruiken

This shifts the focus onto the chicken itself, especially the fact that its smell is noticeable already.

English can do something similar with:

• The chicken is already noticeable by smell
• The chicken can already be smelled

But Dutch uses this structure more naturally than English does.

Yes, it is understandable and natural, though it has a slightly descriptive or explanatory feel.

A very everyday alternative might be:

• Je kunt de kip al ruiken, want Anna bakt die in de koekenpan.

That version may feel more direct in conversation.

But De kip is al te ruiken is perfectly good Dutch and is useful because it shows the pattern zijn + te + infinitive.

Yes, but then the word order changes.

With want:

• De kip is al te ruiken, want Anna bakt die in de koekenpan.

With omdat:

• De kip is al te ruiken, omdat Anna die in de koekenpan bakt.

Both can mean because, but:

• want gives a separate main clause
• omdat introduces a subordinate clause

So the main thing a learner must remember is the verb position:

• want Anna bakt ...
• omdat Anna ... bakt

The verbs are:

• zijn → is
• ruiken → te ruiken
• bakken → bakt

More specifically:

• is = third person singular present of zijn
• ruiken = to smell
• bakt = third person singular present of bakken

So:

• De kip is al te ruiken
• Anna bakt die in de koekenpan

Both clauses are in the present tense.