Questions & Answers about Ik heb dorst, dus drink ik water.
Why does it say Ik heb dorst instead of Ik ben dorst?
Why is the word order drink ik instead of ik drink after the comma?
This is due to the Dutch verb-second rule. In the second part of the sentence, the word dus (so or therefore) takes the first position. Since the main verb must take the second position, drink comes immediately after dus, which pushes the subject ik right after the verb.
Why doesn't the sentence translate I am drinking literally?
Dutch does not have an exact match for the English continuous tense (am doing something). The simple present verb form drink is used for both general habits (I drink) and actions happening right now (I am drinking).
Could I use want instead of dus to connect these two thoughts?
Not in this exact word order, because they explain different things. Dus shows the result of your thirst. If you wanted to use want (because) to show the reason, you would need to flip the sentence halves: Ik drink water, want ik heb dorst.