Breakdown of Je leest de handleiding voordat je de machine aanzet.
lezen
to read
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
de handleiding
the manual
voordat
before
de machine
the machine
aanzetten
to turn on
Questions & Answers about Je leest de handleiding voordat je de machine aanzet.
Why is the verb aanzet at the very end of the sentence?
The word voordat (before) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch, this type of clause pushes the working verb (aanzet) to the very end. The first half of the sentence (Je leest de handleiding) is a main clause, so it keeps the normal order where the verb is second.
Isn't aanzetten (to turn on) a separable verb? Why isn't it split up here?
You have a good memory! In a normal main clause, it would split up (for example: je zet de machine aan). But because voordat pushes the verb to the end of the clause, the two parts of the separable verb get pushed back together and are written as one single word (aanzet).
Could I just use voor instead of voordat in this sentence?
Yes! In everyday Dutch, people often shorten voordat to voor. You will frequently hear ...voor je de machine aanzet, which means exactly the same thing and uses the exact same verb-at-the-end word order.
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