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21
Infinitive
constructions
146
Erik zegt dat hij moet werken. Erik says that he has to work.
Alternative: Erik zegt dat hij werken moet.
While the second sentence is grammatically perfectly correct, it is not
common in speech, it is considered to be less modern. Also, it contradicts
the rule we have demonstrated all along, that the main verb (which
carries the main information) must come at the end. Therefore, you will
see that that same word order rule also applies to subordinated sentences.
Examples, with the helping verbs underlined, and the infinitive groups
in italics:
Erik zegt dat hij heeft moeten werken.
Erik says that he (has) had to work.
Erik zegt dat hij liever was gaan vissen.
Erik says that he’d rather have gone fishing.
Johan zegt dat hij niet heeft kunnen blijven eten.
Johan says that he couldn’t stay for dinner.
Sanne zegt dat ze dat zou hebben willen kunnen zien.
Sanne says that she would have liked to be able to see that.
As mentioned before, a sentence with seven infinitives at the end is a
rarity in Dutch. But those with up to four are certainly possible and might
appear frequently in the conditional with zou. They are difficult to translate
into English, because they have a certain economy or efficiency to them
that cannot easily be translated.
Exercise 21.1
Put the sentences into the present perfect.
Situation: What did Erik do this weekend?
1 Erik laat zijn haar lekker kort knippen.
2 Hij gaat met een vriend zwemmen.
3 Ze blijven in de kantine van het zwembad een biertje drinken.
4 Erik moet de boodschappen doen.
5 Erik laat Peter brood voor het weekend halen.