Breakdown of Als we deze boormachine gebruiken, gaat de muur kapot.
gaan
to go / to go off (of an alarm)
deze
this / these
gebruiken
to use
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about Als we deze boormachine gebruiken, gaat de muur kapot.
Why does the second part say gaat de muur instead of de muur gaat?
This happens because of a rule called inversion (putting the verb before the subject). The whole 'if' clause (Als we deze boormachine gebruiken) counts as the first piece of information in the sentence. Since the main verb must come second, gaat is placed immediately after the comma, followed by the subject de muur.
Why is the verb gebruiken at the very end of the first part?
The word als (if) always introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch, a subordinate clause pushes its verbs all the way to the end of that specific clause.
The translation says the wall 'breaks', but doesn't gaat mean 'goes'?
Exactly! Dutch often uses the phrase kapot gaan (literally 'to go broken') when something breaks on its own or stops working. If someone actively and intentionally breaks something, you use the phrase kapot maken ('to make broken') instead.
Why is it deze boormachine and not dit boormachine?
Boormachine is a de word (de boormachine). Whenever you are talking about a de word, you must use deze (this) or die (that). You only use dit or dat for het words.