Breakdown of De jongens waren blij als ze een hut hadden.
zijn
to be
de jongen
the boy
blij
happy
hebben
to have
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
als
if / when (condition)
de hut
the cabin / the fort
Questions & Answers about De jongens waren blij als ze een hut hadden.
Why is the verb hadden at the very end of the sentence?
The word als (when/if) introduces a dependent clause. In Dutch, connecting words like als always push the verb in that part of the sentence—in this case, hadden—all the way to the end.
Since the sentence is in the past tense, shouldn't "when" be translated as toen instead of als?
This is a tricky rule! In Dutch, toen is only used for a single, specific event in the past. If you are talking about a repeated situation or habit in the past (meaning "whenever" they had a fort), you must use als.
Why is it hadden and not had?
Hadden is the plural past tense of hebben (to have). We use the plural form because the subject of that clause is ze (they), which refers back to the plural de jongens (the boys). If it were just one boy, it would be hij had.
Why use ze instead of zij for "they"?
Ze is the unstressed version of zij. Unless you specifically need to emphasize the word "they" (for example: "THEY had a fort, but we didn't"), it is much more natural to use the unstressed ze.
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