The om...te construction

The om...te construction

To express the purpose of an action ("in order to..."), Dutch uses om ... te + infinitive. It maps to English "to" or "in order to", but the two Dutch words are split apart, with the rest of the phrase in between.

The basic rule

... om + (objects, adverbs) + te + infinitive

Ik ga naar de winkel om brood te kopen. — I am going to the shop to buy bread.
Hij belt zijn moeder om haar blij te maken. — He calls his mother to make her happy.

Key points

• te always comes directly before the infinitive.
• Everything else (objects, adverbs of place and time) goes between om and te.
• With a separable verb, te goes between the two parts:
  • opbellen (to phone) → om je vriend op te bellen — to call your friend

te without om

After certain verbs such as proberen (to try), beloven (to promise), and vergeten (to forget), te + infinitive usually appears without om (adding om is also accepted):

Ik probeer Nederlands te leren. — I am trying to learn Dutch.
Hij beloofde te komen. — He promised to come.

te + adjective + om ... te

The pattern te + adjective + om ... te means "too X to Y":

Het is te koud om buiten te spelen. — It is too cold to play outside.
De koffer is te zwaar om alleen te dragen. — The suitcase is too heavy to carry alone.

Notice that Dutch te pulls double duty here: the first te means "too", the second is the infinitive marker.

Useful examples