"komen drinken" or "komen te drinken"?

[Nederaar]

Dear all,

I came across a sentence in a book I am reading:

"Deze reptielen eten vissen, watervogels en dieren die aan het water komen drinken, zoals koeien en herten."

This "komen drinken" part seems to contradict what's taught on this site here:
https://www.dutchgrammar.com/en/?n=Verbs.Au09
"het komt te vervallen."
The "te" can only be dropped if "komen" is itself in the present perfect or past perfect tense, such as:
"Het is komen vervallen."

The sentence I saw, however, is not perfect tense, so I don't understand why the "te" is dropped there.

Could this be a Belgian way of grammar, as the book is published by "Zuidnederlandse Uitgeverij N.V., Aartselaar, Belgie". (The book is called "De grote encyclopedie voor de jeugd")

[Bieneke]

It is a correct sentence, and it is a common use of 'komen' in the Netherlands. 'Komen te' and 'komen' (without 'te') have different meanings.

The page you refer to is a page in a series of pages about auxiliary verbs that require 'te'. If you read this page out of context it may seem that 'komen' always requires 'te', but that is not the case.

I have added a note about 'komen' on the page: "We use the verb komen also without te. In fact, that is the most common use of komen. It has the same meaning as to come in English."

I am sorry for the confusion. I hope it is clear now!