om ... te + infinitive: saying 'in order to' in Dutch

To say why you do something — in order to — Dutch wraps the goal in om ... te: Ik ga naar de winkel om brood te kopen. (I am going to the shop to buy bread.) The om opens the purpose, and te + the infinitive (the plain verb form) closes it at the end.

Put om where the reason begins, send the infinitive to the very end with te in front of it, and place everything else (object, place, time) in between: om ... te + infinitive. Think of om ... te as a pair of brackets you fill in.

1. Start the purpose with om: Hij belt om een afspraak te maken. (He is calling to make an appointment.)
2. The infinitive goes to the end, with te directly before it — never right after om: om een afspraak te maken, not om te een afspraak maken.
3. Object and other words sit in the middle: Ze spaart om een huis te kopen. (She is saving to buy a house.)

The om ... te part is a short version of a subordinate clause (a clause you could otherwise start with zodat or dat), which is why the verb lands at the end — the same pattern as in a full subordinate clause.

Use om whenever te + infinitive expresses a purpose, and always in these fixed frames:

• For a goal or reason (in order to): Ik leer Nederlands om werk te vinden. (I am learning Dutch in order to find work.)
• After te + an adjective (too ... to): Het is te koud om buiten te spelen. (It is too cold to play outside.)
• After genoeg (enough): Ze is oud genoeg om alleen te reizen. (She is old enough to travel alone.)
• After a noun that names a reason or need, such as tijd (time), zin (desire), reden (reason), geld (money): Ik heb geen tijd om te koken. (I have no time to cook.)

A handful of verbs about trying, promising, or asking can take te + infinitive with or without om. With this small group the om is understood even when it is not written, so leaving it out changes nothing — the two versions carry the same meaning, and in speech people often drop it.

• proberen (to try): Ik probeer (om) elke dag te wandelen. (I try to walk every day.)
• beloven (to promise): Zij belooft (om) morgen te bellen. (She promises to call tomorrow.)
• vragen (to ask): Hij vroeg (om) even te wachten. (He asked to wait a moment.)

If you are unsure, keeping om is the safer choice: it is never wrong in these cases, whereas dropping it where a purpose or a te + adjective frame requires it would be.

The commonest slip is placing the infinitive straight after om: not om te brood kopen but om brood te kopen — the infinitive, with its te, always goes to the end. A second slip is dropping om in a purpose clause: Ik ga naar buiten te roken is wrong; it must be Ik ga naar buiten om te roken. (I am going outside to smoke.)