English manages with one workhorse word, "because," and a few formal alternatives ("since," "as," "for"). Dutch splits the job of expressing cause across several conjunctions that are not freely interchangeable — and choosing the wrong one marks you as a learner immediately. The two that matter most, omdat and doordat, both translate as "because" but encode a genuine difference: a reason someone has versus an impersonal cause that produces an effect. Add want (the coordinating "because") and the formal aangezien, and you have a four-way system with its own word-order rules. This page sorts them out.
The big picture
| Conjunction | Meaning | Word order | Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| omdat | because (a reason/motive) | verb to the END | neutral |
| doordat | because (an impersonal cause → effect) | verb to the END | neutral / written |
| want | because/for (coordinating) | verb stays 2nd | neutral / slightly informal |
| aangezien | since/given that | verb to the END | formal / written |
Three of the four (omdat, doordat, aangezien) are subordinating — verb to the end. Only want is coordinating — verb stays in second position. Get that split straight first, then layer on the meaning differences.
Omdat vs doordat: reason vs cause
This is the distinction that has no clean English equivalent, so it rewards careful attention.
Omdat introduces a reason — a motive, a ground that a person (or, by extension, an agent) has for doing something. There's an element of will, choice or justification behind it. It answers Waarom? ("Why — for what reason?").
Doordat introduces a cause — an impersonal mechanism by which one event automatically produces another. No will is involved; it's pure cause-and-effect. It answers Waardoor? ("Through what — by what mechanism?").
Ik blijf thuis omdat ik geen zin heb om uit te gaan.
I'm staying home because I don't feel like going out. (a motive I have → omdat)
De wegen waren glad doordat het de hele nacht had gevroren.
The roads were slippery because it had frozen all night. (impersonal cause → effect → doordat)
A clean test: if you could rephrase it as "the reason is that…", use omdat. If you could rephrase it as "this happened as a result of…", use doordat. Compare the same situation framed two ways:
De trein had vertraging doordat er een sein kapot was.
The train was delayed because a signal was broken. (a malfunction caused it → doordat)
Ik nam de fiets omdat de trein vertraging had.
I took the bike because the train was delayed. (my decision, my reason → omdat)
Notice how the same train delay is a doordat-cause in the first sentence (the broken signal mechanically produced the delay) and an omdat-reason in the second (the delay was my ground for choosing the bike).
Both are subordinating, so both put the verb at the end — and both invert the main clause when they come first:
Doordat de batterij leeg was, ging mijn telefoon uit.
Because the battery was empty, my phone switched off. (sub-clause first → 'was' ends it, 'ging' inverts before subject)
Want: the coordinating "because"
Want also means "because," but grammatically it is in a different universe: it is coordinating, so the clause after it keeps verb-second order. There's a subtle nuance too — want often presents not the cause of the fact but the speaker's grounds for stating it. It's the "for/since" of explanation.
Hij is vast thuis, want zijn auto staat voor de deur.
He must be home, because his car is parked out front. (my grounds for the claim → want; verb 'staat' stays 2nd)
Neem een jas mee, want het wordt vanavond koud.
Take a coat with you, because it'll be cold tonight. (want → 'het' then verb 'wordt' in 2nd position)
Practical limits on want: it takes a comma before it, it cannot begin a sentence, and it cannot answer the bare question Waarom? — for that you need omdat.
Waarom heb je een jas aan? — Omdat het koud is.
Why are you wearing a coat? — Because it's cold. (answering 'why?' → omdat, not want)
Aangezien: the formal "since"
Aangezien means "since / seeing that / given that." It is subordinating (verb to the end) and distinctly formal — at home in writing, news, official letters and careful speech, but stilted in casual chat. It typically presents the reason as already-known or self-evident, and it very often opens the sentence.
Aangezien de begroting niet rond is, wordt het project uitgesteld.
Since the budget isn't balanced, the project is being postponed. (formal; 'is' ends the sub-clause, 'wordt' inverts)
Aangezien u al klant bent, krijgt u tien procent korting.
Since you're already a customer, you receive a ten percent discount. (formal register, with the polite 'u')
A close cousin is daar ("as/since"), which is even more formal and largely literary — recognise it in older or elevated texts, but reach for omdat or aangezien in your own writing.
A note on zodat: result, not cause
Don't confuse the causal family with zodat ("so that"), which points the other direction — it introduces the result of the main clause, not its cause. It is subordinating (verb to the end). Mentioned here only so you don't file it under "because."
Ze fluisterde, zodat de baby niet wakker werd.
She whispered, so that the baby wouldn't wake up. (result → zodat; verb 'werd' at the end)
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik blijf thuis doordat ik geen zin heb.
Incorrect — this is a personal motive, so it needs 'omdat', not the impersonal 'doordat'.
✅ Ik blijf thuis omdat ik geen zin heb.
I'm staying home because I don't feel like it.
❌ Neem een jas mee, want het koud wordt.
Incorrect — 'want' is coordinating, so the verb 'wordt' stays in 2nd position, not at the end.
✅ Neem een jas mee, want het wordt koud.
Take a coat, because it's getting cold.
❌ Want zijn auto voor de deur staat, is hij vast thuis.
Incorrect — 'want' can't start a sentence. Use 'omdat' (or 'aangezien') to open with the reason.
✅ Omdat zijn auto voor de deur staat, is hij vast thuis.
Because his car is parked out front, he must be home.
❌ De wegen waren glad omdat het had gevroren.
Acceptable in speech, but imprecise — a purely physical cause is more accurately 'doordat'.
✅ De wegen waren glad doordat het had gevroren.
The roads were slippery because it had frozen. (impersonal cause → doordat)
❌ Aangezien de begroting niet rond is, het project wordt uitgesteld.
Incorrect — 'aangezien' is subordinating and comes first, so the main clause must invert: 'wordt' before 'het project'.
✅ Aangezien de begroting niet rond is, wordt het project uitgesteld.
Since the budget isn't balanced, the project is being postponed.
Key Takeaways
- omdat = a reason/motive (people have reasons); doordat = an impersonal cause→effect (the world has causes). Both are subordinating → verb-final.
- want = coordinating "because" → verb stays 2nd, takes a comma, can't begin a sentence, can't answer bare Waarom?.
- aangezien = formal "since/given that," subordinating → verb-final; reserve it for written and careful register.
- When unsure between omdat and doordat, omdat is the safe default. Don't confuse the "because" family with zodat ("so that"), which gives a result.
Now practice Dutch
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- Dutch Conjunctions: OverviewA2 — The three families of Dutch joining words — coordinating, subordinating, and conjunctional adverbs — and the word-order effect each one has on its clause.
- Coordinating Conjunctions: En, Maar, Of, Want, DusA2 — The five Dutch coordinating conjunctions that join equal clauses without ever moving the verb — and why want and dus are the tricky ones.
- Subordinating Conjunctions and Verb-Final OrderA2 — The single rule behind every Dutch subordinate clause: the conjunction sends the finite verb to the end — plus the inversion that follows when the clause comes first.
- Using Omdat and Dat: Because and ThatA2 — How the subordinating conjunctions omdat (because) and dat (that) send the verb to the end of their clause — and why want behaves completely differently.
- Verb-Final Order in Subordinate ClausesA2 — After a subordinating conjunction, relative pronoun, or question word, the entire verb cluster — including the finite verb — moves to the end of the clause.
- Verb-Second (V2) in Main ClausesA1 — The backbone of Dutch main clauses — the finite verb sits in the second position, where 'position' means the second constituent, not the second word.