Breakdown of Doordat de rivier overstroomt, mislukt de oogst.
de rivier
the river
doordat
because of the fact that / because (cause)
de oogst
the harvest
mislukken
to fail (be unsuccessful)
Questions & Answers about Doordat de rivier overstroomt, mislukt de oogst.
Why use doordat here instead of the more common omdat?
Doordat is used to show a strict, objective cause-and-effect relationship, usually involving something physical or out of human control (like a river flooding). Omdat is typically used for a reason or motivation (why a person chose to do something). While you will hear Dutch people use omdat for both in casual speech, doordat is the most precise word here.
How does doordat affect the word order in the first half of the sentence?
Because doordat is a subordinating conjunction, it introduces a dependent clause. In a dependent clause, the conjugated verb (overstroomt) gets pushed all the way to the end of that clause, right before the comma.
Why does the second half start with the verb (mislukt) instead of the subject (de oogst)?
This is the Dutch V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire first dependent clause (Doordat de rivier overstroomt) acts as one big block taking up the first position in the sentence. The main verb (mislukt) must take the second position immediately after the comma, and its subject (de oogst) follows it. This swapping of subject and verb is called inversion.
How does the word mislukt get its meaning?