Word
Mijn hond loopt niet, want hij heeft pijn.
Meaning
My dog is not walking, because he is in pain.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Mijn hond loopt niet, want hij heeft pijn.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
niet
not
de hond
the dog
hebben
to have
Questions & Answers about Mijn hond loopt niet, want hij heeft pijn.
How does the word want affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
The word want (because) is a coordinating conjunction. That means it simply links two normal sentences together without changing the word order at all! After want, you just use the standard Subject (hij) + Verb (heeft) + Object (pijn) order, exactly as if it were a standalone sentence.
Why is loopt niet translated as "is not walking" instead of "does not walk"?
Dutch doesn't have an exact match for the English "-ing" form (like "is walking"). The basic present tense loopt can mean both "walks" and "is walking" depending on the situation. Here, the context tells us it's happening right now, so "is not walking" is the most natural translation.
Why do we say heeft pijn when the English translation says "is in pain"?
In Dutch, you don't say that someone is in pain. Instead, you use the verb hebben (to have). So, hij heeft pijn literally translates to "he has pain."
Why does the word niet come after the verb here?
In a simple Dutch sentence, the negative word niet (not) usually comes after the main verb. Because there is no object in this first clause, niet goes directly after loopt to negate the action.