The om…te construction is one of Dutch’s most frequently used infinitive patterns. It expresses purpose (in order to), result (too…to), or serves as a subject/object clause. Purpose: “Ik studeer om te slagen” (I study in order to pass). Result with te…om: “Hij is te moe om te werken” (He is too tired to work). As a subject clause introduced by het: “Het is fijn om vrienden te hebben” (It is nice to have friends).
Om opens the infinitive clause and te appears immediately before the infinitive at the end. With separable verbs: “Het is belangrijk om op tijd op te staan” (It’s important to get up on time). The clause always ends with the infinitive (or the prefix + te + infinitive for separable verbs). This structure appears in everyday speech and is far more common than English “in order to” — Dutch uses om…te wherever English uses simple “to” in many contexts.
Verbs that trigger om…te rather than plain te include: vragen om te (to ask to), uitnodigen om te (to invite to), aanmoedigen om te (to encourage to). After adjectives expressing preference, necessity, or possibility, both te and om…te are possible, with om…te being more explicit about purpose. Learning these collocations in example sentences — rather than as abstract rules — is the most effective approach.