Breakdown of Hij helpt ons terwijl wij koken.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
wij
we
koken
to cook
helpen
to help
Questions & Answers about Hij helpt ons terwijl wij koken.
I know terwijl pushes the verb to the end, but here koken is right next to the subject. Did the word order change?
Terwijl (while) introduces a subordinate clause, which means the verb gets pushed to the very end. Because wij koken only consists of a subject and a verb, the verb is naturally at the end already! If you added more information, it would go in the middle: ... terwijl wij de maaltijd koken (... while we cook the meal).
Why do we use ons in the first part and wij in the second?
This is a good reminder of subject versus object pronouns. Ons means 'us' and is the object receiving the help. Wij means 'we' and is the active subject doing the cooking in the second clause.
Can I use als instead of terwijl here?
Not if you want to emphasize that two things are happening at the exact same time. Terwijl specifically means 'while' or 'during the time that'. Als translates to 'if' or 'when', which changes the meaning of the sentence.