Conjunctions are the words that glue clauses together — and, but, because, when, that. In English they are easy: you slot one in and the word order on either side stays exactly the same. Dutch is the opposite. In Dutch, the conjunction you choose decides where the verb goes. Some joining words leave the verb alone, some banish it to the end of the clause, and some force the whole clause to flip. This page maps the entire territory so that every other conjunction page makes sense: master the three families here, and you can predict the word order of any Dutch sentence you build.
Why conjunctions matter so much in Dutch
English is a word-order-rigid language but a conjunction-neutral one. "I'm staying home because I'm ill" and "I'm staying home, so I'm ill" keep "I am ill" intact regardless of the joining word. Dutch flips this: the language tolerates several word orders, and the conjunction is the signal that tells you which one applies. So in Dutch you cannot learn a conjunction's meaning without learning its grammatical effect at the same time. The two are inseparable.
There are three families, defined entirely by what they do to the verb:
| Family | Dutch term | Members (core) | Effect on verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinating | nevenschikkend | en, maar, of, want, dus | nothing — verb stays in 2nd position |
| Subordinating | onderschikkend | dat, omdat, als, terwijl, hoewel, … | verb goes to the END of the clause |
| Conjunctional adverb | bijwoord van verbinding | daarom, dus, toch, daarna, dan | triggers inversion — verb comes BEFORE the subject |
Family 1: Coordinating conjunctions — the verb stays put
There are exactly five coordinating conjunctions in Dutch: en (and), maar (but), of (or), want (for/because), dus (so). They join two grammatically equal partners — two main clauses, two nouns, two verbs. Crucially, they sit between the two clauses and change nothing. The second clause keeps ordinary main-clause order, with the conjugated verb in second position (this is the "verb-second" or V2 rule).
Ik blijf thuis, want ik ben ziek.
I'm staying home, because I'm ill. (after 'want' → subject 'ik', then verb 'ben' in 2nd position)
Hij belde aan, maar er deed niemand open.
He rang the bell, but nobody answered. (after 'maar' → normal order: 'er' first, verb 'deed' second)
Wil je koffie of heb je liever thee?
Do you want coffee or would you rather have tea? (after 'of' → verb 'heb' in 2nd position)
The mental model: a coordinating conjunction is a hinge between two complete, self-standing clauses. Each clause would be a grammatical sentence on its own, and joining them with en/maar/of/want/dus doesn't disturb either one.
Family 2: Subordinating conjunctions — the verb goes to the end
This is the family that makes Dutch feel alien to English speakers. A subordinating conjunction (omdat, dat, als, terwijl, hoewel, voordat, nadat, zodat, and many more) introduces a clause that cannot stand alone — and it drags the conjugated verb all the way to the end of that clause.
Ik blijf thuis omdat ik ziek ben.
I'm staying home because I'm ill. (after 'omdat' → verb 'ben' jumps to the very end)
Ze belde op terwijl ik aan het koken was.
She called while I was cooking. (after 'terwijl' → verb 'was' at the end)
Ik weet niet of hij vanavond komt.
I don't know whether he's coming tonight. (after 'of' meaning 'whether' → verb 'komt' at the end)
Notice that last example: of appears in both families. As a coordinator it means "or" and leaves word order alone; as a subordinator it means "whether" and sends the verb to the end. The word order is what tells you which of you're dealing with.
A second consequence: when a subordinate clause comes first, the entire clause counts as the opening element of the sentence, so the main clause that follows must invert — its verb comes before its subject.
Omdat ik ziek ben, blijf ik thuis.
Because I'm ill, I'm staying home. (sub-clause first → 'ben' ends it, then main verb 'blijf' comes before 'ik')
This produces the famous "two verbs back to back" shape across the comma: ...ben, blijf.... It looks wrong to an English eye and is completely correct in Dutch.
Family 3: Conjunctional adverbs — they cause inversion
Some words feel like conjunctions because they express logical links (therefore, so, yet, then, afterwards), but grammatically they are adverbs. The key members are daarom (therefore), dus (so), toch (yet/still), daarna (afterwards), and dan (then). When one of these opens a clause, it occupies the first slot in the sentence — and because the verb must stay second, the subject gets pushed behind the verb. This is inversion.
Het regende, daarom bleven we binnen.
It was raining, therefore we stayed inside. (after 'daarom' → verb 'bleven' before subject 'we')
Ik heb gegeten, dus ik heb geen honger meer.
I've eaten, so I'm not hungry anymore. ('dus' can behave either way — see below)
The tricky member is dus. It can act as a true coordinating conjunction (no inversion: dus ik heb...) or as a conjunctional adverb (inversion: dus heb ik...). Both are correct and both are common; dus heb ik... sounds a touch more emphatic. Daarom, by contrast, always inverts — it is purely adverbial.
The one-glance summary
| You want to say… | Use… | Word order after it |
|---|---|---|
| and / but / or | en / maar / of | verb stays 2nd |
| because (coordinating) | want | verb stays 2nd |
| because (subordinating) | omdat / doordat | verb to the END |
| that / whether | dat / of | verb to the END |
| when / while / if / although | toen, als, terwijl, hoewel… | verb to the END |
| therefore / so / then | daarom / dus / dan | inversion (verb before subject) |
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik blijf thuis want ik ben ziek.
Not exactly wrong, but 'want' as a coordinator usually takes a comma before it: '..., want...'.
✅ Ik blijf thuis, want ik ben ziek.
I'm staying home, because I'm ill. (coordinating want → comma + verb stays 2nd)
❌ Ik blijf thuis omdat ik ben ziek.
Incorrect — 'omdat' is subordinating, so the verb 'ben' must go to the end, not stay in the middle.
✅ Ik blijf thuis omdat ik ziek ben.
I'm staying home because I'm ill.
❌ Ik weet niet of komt hij vanavond.
Incorrect — 'of' meaning 'whether' is subordinating; the verb 'komt' belongs at the end.
✅ Ik weet niet of hij vanavond komt.
I don't know whether he's coming tonight.
❌ Het regende, daarom we bleven binnen.
Incorrect — 'daarom' triggers inversion, so the verb must come before the subject.
✅ Het regende, daarom bleven we binnen.
It was raining, therefore we stayed inside.
❌ Omdat ik ziek ben, ik blijf thuis.
Incorrect — when the sub-clause comes first, the main clause must invert: verb before subject.
✅ Omdat ik ziek ben, blijf ik thuis.
Because I'm ill, I'm staying home.
Key Takeaways
- Dutch conjunctions come in three families, and each one does something specific to the verb.
- Coordinating (en, maar, of, want, dus): verb stays in second position — nothing changes.
- Subordinating (dat, omdat, als, terwijl, …): verb goes to the end of the clause; a fronted sub-clause forces the main clause to invert.
- Conjunctional adverbs (daarom, dus, toch, dan): trigger inversion — verb before subject.
- Two words live a double life: of (or / whether) and dus (coordinating / adverbial). Read the word order to tell which job they're doing.
Now practice Dutch
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- 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-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.
- 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.
- Inversion After a Fronted ElementA2 — When anything but the subject opens a Dutch main clause, the subject and finite verb swap — including the hallmark 'verb-comma-verb' collision after a fronted subordinate clause.