Breakdown of Ik zoek mijn jas, want het is koud en donker.
ik
I
zijn
to be
en
and
zoeken
to look for
de jas
the coat
koud
cold
mijn
my
het
it
want
because
donker
dark
Questions & Answers about Ik zoek mijn jas, want het is koud en donker.
Why is the word order normal (het is) after want?
The word want means 'because', and it is used to glue two complete, normal sentences together. Because of this, the word order in the second part stays exactly the same as a regular sentence: Subject (het) followed by the Verb (is).
The English translation says 'looking for'. Why isn't there a word for 'for' in the Dutch sentence?
The Dutch verb zoeken already means 'to look for' all by itself. You never need to add an extra word for 'for'. If you did, it would sound like you were doing the looking on behalf of your coat!
Does het is koud work exactly like 'it is cold' in English?
Yes, it does! When talking about the weather, temperature, or lighting (like donker), Dutch uses het (it) as the subject, exactly the same way English does.
Is the comma before want required?
Yes. When you use want to connect two sentences, it is a strict grammar rule in Dutch to always put a comma right before it.
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