Breakdown of De astronaut zweeft, want hij valt niet.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
niet
not
want
because
vallen
to fall
Questions & Answers about De astronaut zweeft, want hij valt niet.
Why is niet at the very end of the sentence?
In a main clause, when niet negates the entire action and there are no other details like an object or a place, it drops to the very end. Here, it simply negates the verb valt.
Could I use omdat instead of want here?
You could, but the word order would change! Both words mean because, but want introduces a normal main clause (subject-verb: hij valt niet). Omdat introduces a subclause, which pushes the verb to the very end: omdat hij niet valt.
If we added an adverb like snel (quickly), where would niet go?
If you want to say because he does not fall quickly, niet goes right before the word it specifically negates. The clause would become: want hij valt niet snel.
The verb is zweeft. Why does the spelling change from the dictionary form zweven?
The infinitive is zweven (to float). To make the stem, you remove the -en. To keep the long sound of the e and because Dutch syllables do not end in v, the stem becomes zweef. Then you just add the -t for the he form: zweeft.