Questions & Answers about Wij koken een verse maaltijd, zodat we gezond eten.
How does zodat affect the word order here?
zodat (so that) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a sub-clause and kicks the verb to the end of that clause. In zodat we gezond eten, the verb eten is pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why does verse have an -e at the end, but gezond doesn't?
verse is an adjective coming right before the noun maaltijd (a de-word), so it gets an -e ending. gezond, on the other hand, is acting as an adverb here because it describes how we eat (eten). Adverbs do not get an -e ending in Dutch.
Could I use daarom instead of zodat to mean 'so'?
They have slightly different functions. zodat connects two actions into one sentence and means 'so that' (showing the purpose or result). daarom means 'therefore' or 'that is why', and it usually starts a new main clause with inverted word order, like this: Wij koken een verse maaltijd. Daarom eten we gezond.
Why does the Dutch sentence say koken instead of a literal translation for 'are cooking'?
Dutch does not use a continuous tense (like 'are cooking') nearly as often as English does. The simple present tense koken translates to both 'cook' in general and 'are cooking' right now, depending on the context.