Word
Zet u de computer aan voordat u de kabel aansluit?
Meaning
Do you turn on the computer before you connect the cable?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Zet u de computer aan voordat u de kabel aansluit?
u
you (formal)
de computer
the computer
voordat
before
aanzetten
to turn on
Questions & Answers about Zet u de computer aan voordat u de kabel aansluit?
Why is aansluit at the very end of the sentence?
The word voordat (before) introduces a dependent clause (also called a subclause). In Dutch, dependent clauses use verb-final word order. This means the conjugated verb is pushed all the way to the end of that part of the sentence.
Both aanzetten and aansluiten are separable verbs. Why is only one of them split up?
That is because they are in different types of clauses! The first part is a main clause question, so the separable verb splits: the verb (zet) comes early, and the prefix (aan) goes to the end of that clause. The second part is a subclause. Because subclauses push the verb to the end, the prefix and the verb meet at the end of the sentence and snap back together into one word: aansluit.
Can I just use voor instead of voordat here?
No, because you are introducing a whole new clause with a subject (u) and a verb (aansluit). When 'before' connects two clauses like this, you must use the conjunction voordat. You only use voor when it is a preposition directly before a noun, like in voor het ontbijt (before breakfast).
Why does the sentence start with Zet u instead of U zet?