Breakdown of Aangezien het contract de prijs betreft, hadden we een vraag.
een
a/an
hebben
to have
de vraag
the question
het contract
the contract
Questions & Answers about Aangezien het contract de prijs betreft, hadden we een vraag.
Why does the verb betreft go at the very end of the first clause?
The word aangezien (since/as) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause, and in Dutch, dependent clauses always send the conjugated verb to the end of that clause. That's why betreft is pushed all the way to the comma.
Could I use omdat instead of aangezien here?
Yes, you could say Omdat het contract de prijs betreft..., and the grammar would remain exactly the same. However, aangezien (since/as) sounds a little more formal and professional than omdat (because), which fits perfectly in a sentence talking about business contracts.
Why is it hadden we instead of we hadden in the second half of the sentence?
This happens because of the Dutch verb-second (V2) rule. The entire first clause (Aangezien het contract de prijs betreft) counts as the first block of information in the sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, hadden must come immediately after the comma, forcing it to swap places with the subject we.
What kind of verb is betreft?
It is the third-person singular form of the verb betreffen, which means "to concern" or "to relate to". It is quite common in formal or business contexts. You will also frequently see it in the set phrase wat betreft (as for / regarding).