Breakdown of Doordat de woestijn groeit, worden veel dieren bedreigd.
veel
much / many / a lot of
het dier
the animal
worden
to become
groeien
to grow
doordat
because of the fact that / because (cause)
de woestijn
the desert
bedreigen
to threaten
Questions & Answers about Doordat de woestijn groeit, worden veel dieren bedreigd.
What is the difference between using doordat and omdat in this sentence?
Both translate to "because", but doordat is used for an objective cause (one thing causes another physically or logically, without human intention). The desert growing is a natural process that directly causes the threat to the animals. Omdat is usually used for a reason or motivation. While Dutch speakers often just use omdat in daily speech, doordat is the most precise choice for a non-human cause like this.
Why is the main verb worden placed right after the comma?
Why does this sentence use worden ... bedreigd instead of zijn ... bedreigd?
This is the present tense passive voice. Using worden shows that the action is happening right now: the animals are currently being threatened. If you used zijn (zijn bedreigd), it would be the present perfect passive, meaning the action was already finished (they have been threatened).
Since doordat is a subordinating conjunction, shouldn't it send the verb to the end of its clause?
It actually does! In the clause doordat de woestijn groeit, the verb groeit is at the very end. It just looks like normal word order because there are no other words (like time or place) in that part of the sentence to go between the subject and the verb.
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