Breakdown of Ondanks dat het regent, steekt zij het vuur aan.
zij
she
het
it
regenen
to rain
ondanks dat
despite the fact that
het vuur
the fire (element, flames)
aansteken
to light
Questions & Answers about Ondanks dat het regent, steekt zij het vuur aan.
What is the difference between using ondanks and ondanks dat here?
Ondanks means "despite" and is used directly before a noun, like ondanks de regen (despite the rain). Because this sentence uses a full clause with a subject and a verb (het regent), you must use the conjunction ondanks dat (despite the fact that / even though).
Could I use hoewel instead of ondanks dat in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! Hoewel (although) and ondanks dat mean essentially the same thing and work the exact same way in a sentence. Both introduce a subclause. You could perfectly say: Hoewel het regent, steekt zij het vuur aan.
Why does the second half of the sentence say steekt zij instead of zij steekt?
This happens because of a rule called inversion. The entire first clause (Ondanks dat het regent) acts as the first "block" of information in the sentence. In Dutch, the main verb must come second. Therefore, the verb steekt comes immediately after the comma, and the subject zij gets pushed behind it.
Why is the word aan placed at the very end of the sentence?
It is the separable prefix of the verb aansteken (to light / to ignite). In a main clause, the conjugated part of the verb (steekt) is moved near the front, while the short prefix (aan) gets kicked to the very end of the sentence.
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