Word
Je belt de ambulance als hij gewond is.
Meaning
You call the ambulance if he is injured.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Je belt de ambulance als hij gewond is.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
bellen
to call
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
Questions & Answers about Je belt de ambulance als hij gewond is.
Why does the sentence end with the verb is?
The word als ('if' or 'when') is a subordinating conjunction. In Dutch, these types of connecting words introduce a dependent clause and push the conjugated verb (in this case, is) to the very end of that clause.
Does als mean 'if' or 'when' in this sentence?
It can mean both! In Dutch, als is used for both 'if' and 'when'. Depending on the context, this sentence could just as easily be translated as 'You call the ambulance when he is injured.'
What kind of word is gewond?
Gewond means 'injured' or 'wounded'. It behaves like an adjective here describing hij (he), which is why it comes right before the verb is at the end of the sentence.
Could I use Jij instead of Je at the beginning?
Yes, you can. Je is the unstressed version of 'you', which is natural for general statements or instructions like this one. If you wanted to emphasize that you specifically must call the ambulance, you would use the stressed form Jij.