Breakdown of Hij huilt, want hij heeft veel pijn.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
hebben
to have
veel
much / many / a lot of
want
because
huilen
to cry
de pijn
the pain
Questions & Answers about Hij huilt, want hij heeft veel pijn.
Why is the word order normal after want?
Want (because) is a coordinating conjunction. This means it links two complete, independent sentences together without changing their word order. So, hij heeft veel pijn stays exactly as it would be on its own: Subject (hij) + Verb (heeft) + Object (veel pijn).
The translation says 'he is in a lot of pain', but the Dutch says hij heeft. Do you use 'have' for pain in Dutch?
Yes! In Dutch, you do not say that you 'are in' pain. Instead, you say that you have pain (pijn hebben). So the literal translation of this sentence is 'he has much pain' (hij heeft veel pijn).
How does Hij huilt mean 'He is crying'? Shouldn't there be a word for 'is'?
Dutch does not use a 'to be' verb for ongoing actions the way English does. The simple present tense huilt translates to both 'cries' (in general) and 'is crying' (right now). You just rely on the context to know which one is meant!
Could I use omdat instead of want to say 'because' here?
Both words mean 'because', but they affect the grammar differently. Want keeps the normal word order, which makes it very easy to use. Omdat pushes the verb to the end of the sentence, so it would become: Hij huilt, omdat hij veel pijn heeft. Since this lesson focuses on want, you get to keep the normal word order!
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