Breakdown of Wij zouden het contract veranderen.
wij
we
zullen
shall / will
het contract
the contract
veranderen
to change
Questions & Answers about Wij zouden het contract veranderen.
Why use zouden instead of zou in this sentence?
zouden is the plural form of the verb. Since the subject is wij (we), you must use the plural form. You use zou for singular subjects like ik (I), jij (you), or hij (he).
Why is veranderen at the very end of the sentence?
Because zouden works like a helper verb here. In Dutch, when you use a helper verb, it takes the second position in the sentence, and the main action verb (veranderen in this case) gets pushed to the very end in its full dictionary form (the infinitive).
Does this sentence mean we already changed the contract?
No, using zouden makes this a hypothetical situation, meaning we would change the contract. You might say this during a negotiation: We would change the contract (if you lower the price).
Could I use we instead of wij here?
Yes, you can use the unstressed we instead of the stressed wij. You would choose wij in this sentence if you want to emphasize that we would change it, perhaps as opposed to someone else.