Word
De zon schijnt, maar de wind waait.
Meaning
The sun is shining, but the wind is blowing.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about De zon schijnt, maar de wind waait.
Does the word maar change the word order in the second half of the sentence?
No, it doesn't! maar (but) is a coordinating conjunction. This means it just links two normal, independent sentences together without mixing up the grammar. The second part keeps the standard order: the subject (de wind) comes right before the verb (waait).
The English translation says 'is shining' and 'is blowing'. Why are there no words for 'is' in the Dutch sentence?
Dutch doesn't usually use a separate 'is doing' structure the way English does. The simple present tense verbs schijnt and waait already mean both 'shines / is shining' and 'blows / is blowing'.
Do I always need to put a comma before maar?
Yes, it is standard Dutch grammar to put a comma before maar (but) whenever it connects two complete sentences that each have their own subject and verb.