Hij kan het kompas lezen, ondanks dat het donker is.
He can read the compass, even though it is dark.
Breakdown of Hij kan het kompas lezen, ondanks dat het donker is.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
lezen
to read
het
it
kunnen
can
donker
dark
ondanks dat
despite the fact that
het kompas
the compass
Questions & Answers about Hij kan het kompas lezen, ondanks dat het donker is.
Why does the verb is go at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase ondanks dat (despite the fact that / even though) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause, which forces the verb in that clause to move to the very end. That is why we say ondanks dat het donker is instead of ondanks dat het is donker.
Why is there a dat after ondanks? Could I just say ondanks het donker is?
No, you must include dat. In Dutch, ondanks on its own is a preposition meaning "despite," and it can only be followed by a noun phrase (for example, ondanks de regen - despite the rain). Because the second part of this sentence is a full clause with its own subject and verb (het donker is), you have to use ondanks dat to connect it to the main sentence.
Can I use hoewel instead of ondanks dat in this sentence?
Yes, you can! Hoewel (although) and ondanks dat (even though) are often interchangeable and both push the verb to the end of the clause. You could perfectly say ...hoewel het donker is. Using ondanks dat just makes the contrast a little bit stronger.
Why are kan and lezen separated in the first part of the sentence?
This is a good reminder of how modal verbs work in Dutch main clauses. The conjugated modal verb kan (can) takes the normal second position in the sentence, but it sends the main action verb, lezen (to read), all the way to the end of that clause.
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