Zij belonen de jongen omdat hij de kamer schoonmaakt.
They reward the boy because he cleans the room.
Breakdown of Zij belonen de jongen omdat hij de kamer schoonmaakt.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
de jongen
the boy
zij
they
de kamer
the room
Questions & Answers about Zij belonen de jongen omdat hij de kamer schoonmaakt.
Since the current lesson is about using 'er' + preposition, how could we rewrite this sentence to use that grammar?
You could use ervoor dat. The verb belonen pairs with the preposition voor (to reward for). If you want to say 'They reward the boy for the fact that he cleans', you would use the anticipatory 'er' and say: Zij belonen de jongen ervoor dat hij de kamer schoonmaakt. The original sentence just uses omdat (because) as a simpler alternative.
How do we know Zij means 'they' and not 'she' in this sentence?
You can tell by looking at the verb belonen. It has the plural -en ending, meaning Zij must be the plural 'they'. If it were 'she', the verb would be singular: Zij beloont.
Why is the verb schoonmaakt at the very end of the sentence?
The word omdat (because) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which forces the conjugated verb all the way to the end of that clause.
Why is schoonmaakt written as a single word if it is a separable verb?
You are right that schoonmaken is a separable verb. In a regular main clause, it splits (for example: Hij maakt de kamer schoon). But because omdat pushes the verb (maakt) to the end, it bumps right back into its prefix (schoon). When a separable verb's parts sit next to each other at the end of a clause, they are glued back together into one word.