Breakdown of Doordat het raam breekt, is er veel schade.
zijn
to be
veel
much / many / a lot of
het raam
the window
er
there (existential)
doordat
because of the fact that / because (cause)
breken
to break
de schade
the damage
Questions & Answers about Doordat het raam breekt, is er veel schade.
Why is it is er instead of er is in the second half of the sentence?
Because the sentence starts with a subordinate clause (Doordat het raam breekt). In Dutch, when a whole clause comes before the main part of the sentence, it acts as the first position. This triggers inversion in the main clause, meaning the verb (is) must come before the subject (er).
Why is the verb breekt at the end of the first clause?
The word doordat (because) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, the verb gets pushed to the very end. The comma marks the end of this clause, right after breekt.
Could I use omdat instead of doordat here?
You will hear people use omdat, but doordat is technically more correct here. Both mean "because", but doordat is used for a direct, physical cause-and-effect that happens outside of anyone's control (the window breaking causes the damage). Omdat is usually for personal reasons or motivations.
What does er do in this sentence?
In this context, is er translates directly to "there is". Just like in English, Dutch uses er (there) to introduce that something exists or is present, which in this case is veel schade (a lot of damage).
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