Word
Als we samenwerken, zullen we de overwinning behalen.
Meaning
If we work together, we will achieve victory.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Als we samenwerken, zullen we de overwinning behalen.
zullen
shall / will
samenwerken
to collaborate / to work together
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
als
if / when (condition)
Questions & Answers about Als we samenwerken, zullen we de overwinning behalen.
Why does the second half of the sentence say zullen we instead of we zullen?
This happens because of the verb-second (V2) rule. The entire first clause (Als we samenwerken) acts as the first block of information. To keep the verb zullen in the second position of the main clause, it must swap places with the subject we.
Why is the verb samenwerken placed at the very end of the first clause?
The word als (if) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch, subordinate clauses follow different word order rules than main clauses, which pushes the conjugated verb all the way to the end of that specific clause.
Isn't samenwerken a separable verb? Why isn't it split up here?
You are right, it is a separable verb made of samen (together) and werken (work). However, because it is inside a subordinate clause, the verb gets pushed to the end and stays glued together as one word. In a normal main clause, it would split: Wij werken samen.
Do I have to use zullen to talk about the future here?
Not necessarily. In Dutch, you can often just use the present tense to talk about the future, such as ...behalen we de overwinning. Using zullen just makes the statement sound more like a firm promise or a strong prediction.