Conjunctions in Dutch
Conjunctions connect two sentences or phrases. There are coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
Coordinating conjunctions
A coordinating conjunction links two language elements such as two words or word groups, two main clauses or two subordinate clauses. The two elements are considered to be of equal importance.
These are words like en, of, maar, dus and want.
The word order in both sentences or phrases being connected does not change:
Ik drink water, maar zij drinkt melk. Ik draag een jas, want het is koud. Het is koud, dus ik draag een jas.
Subordinating conjunctions
A subordinating conjunction introduces a subordinate clause and links it with the main part of the sentence. Subordinating conjunctions have various functions!
- contrast: hoewel
- cause: omdat, doordat, aangezien
- consequence: zodat, waardoor
- condition: als, indien, tenzij, mits
- time: terwijl, zodra, wanneer, totdat, voordat
- providing a subclause as an object: dat, of
The word order for subordinating conjunctions does change:
Het boek is duur, omdat het oud is.
As you can see here, the main verb of the subordinating (second) clause is always moved to the end.
If the subordinating clause is placed before the main clause (for emphasis), then the main clause will be inverted; that is, the subject and the verb will switch places.
Omdat het oud is, is het boek duur.
Clauses that follow a coordinating conjunction (like want, of or dus) can never be moved to the beginning of the sentence.