There are two families of conjunctions in Dutch, and they treat word order in opposite ways. Subordinating conjunctions (omdat, dat, als, terwijl...) drag the verb to the end of their clause (see Verb-Final Order in Subordinate Clauses). Coordinating conjunctions — en (and), maar (but), want (because/for), of (or), dus (so) — do the opposite: they join two full main clauses and leave the verb-second order untouched in both. This page is about that second family: how en/maar/want/of/dus keep normal order, and how shared elements between the two clauses can be deleted.
The single most important payoff is the want vs omdat contrast. The two words mean almost the same thing — "because" — but they belong to different families, so they put the verb in different places. Getting this right is a reliable marker that you have internalised the two-family system rather than just memorised words.
Coordinating conjunctions keep V2 — the verb stays second
A coordinating conjunction is a link, not a clause-opener. It does not count as the first constituent of the clause that follows it, and it does not trigger inversion (see Inversion). The clause after it behaves like any independent main clause: subject first, finite verb second.
Ik kom, want ik heb tijd.
I'll come, because I've got time. After 'want', the second clause keeps normal order: subject 'ik', then verb 'heb' second — not 'want ik tijd heb'.
Ze wilde komen, maar ze was te moe.
She wanted to come, but she was too tired. After 'maar', the clause runs subject-verb as usual: 'ze was'.
Het is laat, dus we gaan nu naar huis.
It's late, so we're going home now. After 'dus', the verb 'gaan' stays in second position behind the subject 'we'.
There is a subtlety with dus. Because dus can also behave as an ordinary adverb meaning "therefore," you will sometimes see it pull the verb forward by inversion: Het is laat, *dus gaan we nu naar huis. Both *dus we gaan and dus gaan we are correct; the first treats dus as a pure coordinator, the second treats it as a fronted adverb that fills slot one and inverts. The other four — en, maar, want, of — never do this; they are coordinators only.
The headline contrast: want vs omdat
want and omdat both translate as "because," and both give a reason. But want is coordinating and omdat is subordinating — so they place the verb in opposite positions. This is the cleanest illustration in all of Dutch that word order is driven by the type of conjunction, not by meaning.
| Conjunction type | Verb position in the reason-clause | |
|---|---|---|
| Ik blijf thuis, want het regent. | Coordinating | Second (V2): 'het regent' |
| Ik blijf thuis omdat het regent. | Subordinating | Last (verb-final): 'het regent' — here last and second coincide because the clause is short |
The short example hides the difference because het regent is only two words. Lengthen the reason-clause and the two diverge sharply:
Ik blijf thuis, want ik heb nog veel werk.
I'm staying home, because I still have a lot of work. Coordinating 'want': verb 'heb' second, 'veel werk' after it.
Ik blijf thuis omdat ik nog veel werk heb.
I'm staying home because I still have a lot of work. Subordinating 'omdat': verb 'heb' goes all the way to the end, behind 'veel werk'.
Look at where heb lands. With want it is second (want ik heb nog veel werk); with omdat it is last (omdat ik nog veel werk heb). Same meaning, opposite verb position — purely because want coordinates and omdat subordinates. There is no logical reason for this; it is a fact about which family each word belongs to, and you must simply know the membership.
This is why want vs omdat is genuinely a dual decision. The two words differ slightly in nuance — want presents a reason as an afterthought or justification offered to the listener, omdat states a cause more tightly bound to the main clause — but every time you pick one, you are also committing to a verb position. The meaning page covers the nuance; the grammar is settled here.
Ellipsis: deleting shared elements
When two coordinated clauses share a constituent, Dutch routinely deletes the repeated copy. This is called gapping (the shared element leaves a "gap"). It keeps coordinated sentences from sounding clumsy.
Subject gapping
If both clauses have the same subject, you can drop it from the second clause after en, maar, or of. The verb of the second clause then follows directly.
Ik kom langs en breng wat lekkers mee.
I'll come by and bring something nice. The subject 'ik' is shared and deleted in the second clause: 'en breng', not 'en ik breng'.
Hij belde aan, maar kreeg geen antwoord.
He rang the bell but got no answer. 'Hij' is gapped after 'maar': 'maar kreeg', subject understood from the first clause.
Ga je mee of blijf je thuis?
Are you coming along or staying home? In a question the same gapping works: the subject 'je' is shared, though here it's repeated for clarity — both are fine.
Note that subject gapping is most natural after en and maar. After want and dus it is far less common, because those introduce a more independent clause that usually carries its own restated subject.
Verb gapping
A shared verb can also be deleted, leaving two objects or complements hanging off one verb. This is the same construction as English "I ordered coffee and she tea."
Ik nam de trein en zij de bus.
I took the train and she the bus. The verb 'nam' is shared and deleted in the second clause: 'zij de bus', verb understood.
Jan drinkt koffie en Marie thee.
Jan drinks coffee and Marie tea. 'drinkt' is gapped in the second clause.
When you gap the verb like this, the second clause has no finite verb of its own, so the V2 question does not even arise — there is nothing to place second. The gap is filled, in the reader's mind, by the verb of the first clause.
A comma usually precedes maar, want, dus — but not always en
Dutch punctuation tracks these conjunctions fairly consistently. A comma is normally placed before maar, want, and dus, because they introduce a contrast, a reason, or a consequence that the reader benefits from seeing marked off.
Het was koud, maar de zon scheen.
It was cold, but the sun was shining. Comma before 'maar'.
We gaan nu, want anders missen we de trein.
We're leaving now, because otherwise we'll miss the train. Comma before 'want'.
Before en and of, a comma is usually omitted when they simply join two short clauses or two items — especially when the subject is gapped:
Ik kook en jij doet de afwas.
I'll cook and you'll do the dishes. No comma before 'en' joining two short clauses.
A comma does reappear before en when the second clause is long or when leaving it out would cause a misreading, but the default for en/of is no comma, while maar/want/dus default to a comma. This is a soft rule, not an absolute one, but it matches the rhythm of careful written Dutch.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik blijf thuis, want het regent buiten hard.
Incorrect verb position would be: 'want het buiten hard regent' — sending the verb to the end as if 'want' were subordinating.
✅ Ik blijf thuis, want het regent buiten hard.
I'm staying home, because it's raining hard outside. 'want' is coordinating: the verb 'regent' stays second.
❌ Ik kom niet, want ik geen tijd heb.
Incorrect — treats 'want' like 'omdat' and throws the verb 'heb' to the end.
✅ Ik kom niet, want ik heb geen tijd.
I'm not coming, because I don't have time. With 'want' the verb 'heb' stays in second position.
❌ Hij is moe, omdat hij heeft hard gewerkt.
Incorrect — 'omdat' is subordinating, so the verbs must go to the end, not stay in V2.
✅ Hij is moe, omdat hij hard gewerkt heeft.
He's tired because he's worked hard. With 'omdat' the cluster 'gewerkt heeft' goes to the end.
❌ Ik kom langs en ik breng wat lekkers mee.
Not wrong, but clumsy — the shared subject 'ik' should be gapped after 'en'.
✅ Ik kom langs en breng wat lekkers mee.
I'll come by and bring something nice. The repeated subject is deleted.
❌ Het regent maar we gaan toch fietsen.
Incorrect punctuation — a comma is normally placed before 'maar'.
✅ Het regent, maar we gaan toch fietsen.
It's raining, but we're going cycling anyway. Comma before 'maar'.
Key Takeaways
- Coordinating conjunctions — en, maar, want, of, dus — join two main clauses and leave verb-second order intact in both; they do not trigger inversion or verb-final order.
- want vs omdat is the headline contrast: want (coordinating) keeps the verb second, omdat (subordinating) sends it to the end. Same meaning, opposite word order — a dual choice.
- Subject gapping deletes a shared subject in the second clause (Ik kom en breng wat mee), most naturally after en/maar.
- Verb gapping deletes a shared verb (Ik nam de trein en zij de bus).
- A comma normally precedes maar, want, dus; it is usually omitted before en (and of) joining short clauses.
- dus may also act as a fronted adverb and invert (dus gaan we); the other four coordinators never do.
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- Want vs Omdat: Two Words for 'Because'B1 — Dutch has two words for 'because' — want and omdat — and they are not interchangeable, because they belong to different grammatical families. Want is a coordinating conjunction: the verb stays in second position and the clause can't open the sentence. Omdat is subordinating: it kicks the verb to the end and can start the sentence. This page gives the one decision rule, contrasts them with minimal pairs, and fixes the word-order errors English speakers make.
- 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.
- Dutch Word Order: The Big PictureA1 — A top-level map of Dutch word order — the verb-second main clause, the verb bracket, and the verb-final subordinate clause — reduced to two simple questions about where the verb goes.