Breakdown of Zij zei dat ze de auto zou kopen.
zij
she
de auto
the car
kopen
to buy
zeggen
to say
zullen
shall / will
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
dat
that (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Zij zei dat ze de auto zou kopen.
Why do we use zou instead of zal here?
Because the main verb zei (said) is in the past tense. When you report a future plan from the perspective of the past (like turning 'I will buy' into 'She said she would buy'), Dutch uses the past tense of zullen, which is zou for singular subjects, plus the infinitive kopen.
Why are the verbs zou kopen at the very end of the sentence?
The word dat (that) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the end. That is why zou kopen comes after the object de auto.
Could I reverse the verbs at the end and say kopen zou?
Yes, you can! When you have a helper verb like zou and an infinitive like kopen at the end of a subordinate clause, both orders are grammatically correct. Zou kopen is just slightly more common in everyday Dutch.
Why does the sentence start with Zij but then use ze?
Zij is the stressed form of 'she', and ze is the unstressed form. Starting with Zij puts a little emphasis on the person who spoke ('She said...'). Later in the sentence, there is no need to emphasize her again, so the speaker switches to the unstressed ze.
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