Breakdown of Zodra de prijzen dalen, kopen wij een nieuw kantoor.
een
a/an
wij
we
kopen
to buy
het kantoor
the office
nieuw
new
de prijs
the price
zodra
as soon as
dalen
to decrease
Questions & Answers about Zodra de prijzen dalen, kopen wij een nieuw kantoor.
Why is the verb dalen at the end of the first clause?
Zodra (as soon as) is a subordinating conjunction of time, similar to sinds (since). These conjunctions introduce a subordinate clause and push the conjugated verb (dalen) all the way to the end of that specific clause.
Why does the second part say kopen wij instead of wij kopen?
This is because of inversion. The entire first clause (Zodra de prijzen dalen) acts as a single block of information that takes up the first position in the overall sentence. Because the main verb must always come second, the verb kopen goes next, forcing the subject wij to swap places and come right after it.
The English translation says "we will buy", but there is no future tense verb like zullen in the Dutch sentence. Why?
In Dutch, the simple present tense (kopen) is frequently used to talk about the future, especially when a time-related word or the context already makes it clear that the event hasn't happened yet. Using zullen here is technically correct but would sound unnecessarily formal for everyday speech.
How would the word order change if I started the sentence with the main clause instead?
If you start with the main clause, it uses normal word order because the subject is back in the first position: Wij kopen een nieuw kantoor zodra de prijzen dalen. The subordinate clause still keeps its verb (dalen) at the end.
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