Word
Zodra de politie aankomt, vertellen wij de waarheid.
Meaning
As soon as the police arrive, we tell the truth.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Zodra de politie aankomt, vertellen wij de waarheid.
wij
we
aankomen
to arrive
vertellen
to tell
de waarheid
the truth
Questions & Answers about Zodra de politie aankomt, vertellen wij de waarheid.
Why is it vertellen wij instead of wij vertellen?
This is because the sentence starts with a subordinate clause (Zodra de politie aankomt). In Dutch, if a sentence begins with anything other than the subject—in this case, an entire clause—the main verb must come right after it. So, the main verb vertellen must swap places with the subject wij. This is called inversion.
Why is the verb aankomt at the very end of the first part of the sentence?
The word zodra (as soon as) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, the verb is always pushed to the very end of that clause, right before the comma.
I thought aankomen (to arrive) was a separable verb. Why isn't it split up into komt aan here?
You are right, it is a separable verb! In a normal main clause, it would split (for example: De politie komt aan). However, because the rules of a subordinate clause push the verb to the end, the separated prefix (aan) and the conjugated verb (komt) bump into each other and are glued back together as aankomt.
Why does the Dutch sentence use a singular verb (aankomt) when the English translation says "the police arrive" (plural)?