Word
Wij wachten bij het fornuis totdat hij het zout en de peper toevoegt.
Meaning
We wait at the stove until he adds the salt and the pepper.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Wij wachten bij het fornuis totdat hij het zout en de peper toevoegt.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
en
and
wij
we
wachten
to wait
Questions & Answers about Wij wachten bij het fornuis totdat hij het zout en de peper toevoegt.
Why is toevoegt at the very end of the sentence?
Because totdat (until) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent subclause, which means the conjugated verb (toevoegt) must be pushed to the very end of that clause.
The verb for "to add" is toevoegen, which is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up here?
In a normal main clause, you would split it (for example: hij voegt het zout toe). However, because totdat pushes the verb to the end of the sentence, the two parts of the separable verb are forced back together into one single word: toevoegt.
Can I just use tot instead of totdat here?
Yes! When connecting two clauses like this, tot and totdat both mean "until" and act the exact same way. Totdat is just a bit clearer as a connecting word, since tot is also used as a simple preposition (like in tot morgen, meaning "until tomorrow").
Why use bij for "at the stove"?
Bij is often used to mean "near" or "close to" a physical object or location. While English often says "at the stove", Dutch uses bij het fornuis to describe that you are standing in the space right next to it.