Breakdown of Hoewel het project lastig is, gaan ze door.
zijn
to be
het project
the project
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
hoewel
although
lastig
tricky / difficult (troublesome)
doorgaan
to continue / to go on
Questions & Answers about Hoewel het project lastig is, gaan ze door.
Why is the verb is at the very end of the first part of the sentence?
The word hoewel (although) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause, which always pushes its conjugated verb to the very end. That is why we say het project lastig is instead of the normal word order het project is lastig.
Why does the second half say gaan ze instead of ze gaan?
Because the sentence starts with a dependent clause (Hoewel het project lastig is), that entire clause takes up the first position in the sentence. In Dutch, the main verb must take the second position. So, the verb gaan is placed right after the comma, and the subject ze swaps places to come after it. This is called inversion.
Where does the word door come from at the end of the sentence?
It is part of the separable verb doorgaan, which means "to continue" or "to go on." When a separable verb is used as the active verb in a main clause, its prefix (door) breaks off and gets sent to the very end of the clause, leaving us with gaan ze door.
Could I use moeilijk instead of lastig here?
Yes, you absolutely can. Moeilijk means "difficult" or "hard" and would make perfect sense. Lastig is a very common alternative that means "tricky," "troublesome," or "inconvenient," which implies the project has some annoying complications.
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