Breakdown of Het document moet wel belangrijk zijn, aangezien we het moeten doorlezen.
zijn
to be
het
it
belangrijk
important
moeten
to have to, must
het document
the document
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
wel
indeed, surely (contrastive particle)
aangezien
since / as (because)
doorlezen
to read through
Questions & Answers about Het document moet wel belangrijk zijn, aangezien we het moeten doorlezen.
How does aangezien affect the word order here?
The word aangezien means 'since' or 'as' and is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause and kicks the verbs to the very end of the sentence. That is why moeten and doorlezen are pushed all the way to the back.
What is the purpose of the word wel in moet wel belangrijk zijn?
In this sentence, wel is used as a modal particle to add emphasis or probability. It changes 'must be important' to mean 'must surely be important' or 'is highly likely to be important.' Dutch speakers use little filler words like this to make assumptions sound more natural and conversational.
The verb doorlezen (to read through) is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up here?
Because aangezien pushes all the verbs to the end of the clause, they form a verb cluster. When a separable verb ends up in a verb cluster next to another verb like moeten, its prefix (door) stays firmly attached to the main verb (lezen) instead of splitting off.
Could I switch the order of the verbs at the end and say doorlezen moeten?
Yes, you absolutely can! When you have an auxiliary verb like moeten and an infinitive like doorlezen at the end of a subclause, Dutch allows you to put them in either order. Both moeten doorlezen and doorlezen moeten are perfectly correct, though the order used in this sentence is often more common in spoken Dutch.
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