Breakdown of Hoewel haar rapport goed is, moet ze vooral wiskunde meer oefenen.
zijn
to be
haar
her
goed
good
moeten
to have to, must
oefenen
to practice
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
meer
more
vooral
especially
hoewel
although
de wiskunde
the mathematics
het rapport
the report card / the report (document)
Questions & Answers about Hoewel haar rapport goed is, moet ze vooral wiskunde meer oefenen.
Why does vooral come directly before wiskunde?
vooral is a focus adverb meaning "especially". In Dutch, focus adverbs are usually placed right before the specific word or phrase they emphasize. Here, it highlights that mathematics is the specific subject she needs to focus on.
Why is the verb is at the end of the first clause?
The word hoewel (although) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which pushes the conjugated verb (is) to the very end of that clause, just before the comma.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with moet ze instead of ze moet?
This is because of the Dutch inversion rule. The entire first clause (Hoewel haar rapport goed is) takes up the first position in the sentence. Because the main clause comes second, its verb (moet) must come directly before its subject (ze).
Why is oefenen placed at the very end of the sentence?
The main clause uses the modal verb moet (must). Whenever you use a conjugated modal verb in Dutch, the main action verb (here, the infinitive oefenen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
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