Breakdown of Ondanks dat we verdwalen, blijven we lopen.
lopen
to walk
blijven
to stay
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
ondanks dat
despite the fact that
verdwalen
to get lost
Questions & Answers about Ondanks dat we verdwalen, blijven we lopen.
Why do we need dat after ondanks? Can't I just say Ondanks we verdwalen?
No, you need ondanks dat here because it introduces a full clause (a part of a sentence with a subject and a conjugated verb, like we verdwalen). If you use ondanks on its own, it acts as a preposition and must be followed by a noun phrase, like ondanks de regen (despite the rain).
Ondanks dat is a subordinating conjunction, which pushes the verb to the end. Why doesn't the word order of we verdwalen look different?
It actually is following the rule! Since this specific clause only has a subject (we) and a verb (verdwalen), the verb is already at the end. If you added extra information, it would go between them. For example: Ondanks dat we hier vaak verdwalen (Even though we often get lost here).
Why is the second part of the sentence blijven we lopen instead of we blijven lopen?
The first part of the sentence, Ondanks dat we verdwalen, acts as one big introductory block. Because Dutch main clauses use the "Verb Second" rule, the main verb blijven must be the second element of the overall sentence, right after the comma. This causes inversion, pushing the subject we after the verb.
How does blijven we lopen translate to "we keep walking"?
In Dutch, you use the verb blijven (to stay or remain) combined with another verb in its infinitive form (like lopen) to express that you "keep doing" an action. Literally it means "we stay walking," which is the standard way to say "we keep walking".
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