We staken de rivier per boot over.

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Breakdown of We staken de rivier per boot over.

• de rivier: the river
• per: by
• oversteken: to cross

Questions & Answers about We staken de rivier per boot over.

What is the basic verb in this sentence?

The basic verb is oversteken, which means to cross.

In a dictionary, you would look it up as oversteken, not as staken over. It is a separable verb, so in some sentence types it gets split into two parts.

Why is over at the end of the sentence?

Because oversteken is a separable verb.

In a normal main clause, Dutch puts:

• the conjugated verb near the beginning, and
• the separable part at the end.

So:

• infinitive: de rivier oversteken
• main clause past tense: We staken de rivier per boot over

This is one of the most important Dutch word-order patterns to learn.

Why is it staken here?