Learn Dutch: In plaats van dat de schoonmaker het laken ververst, wassen wij het zelf. - Instead of the cleaner changing the sheet, we wash it ourselves.

In plaats van dat de schoonmaker het laken ververst, wassen wij het zelf.

Instead of the cleaner changing the sheet, we wash it ourselves.

Breakdown of In plaats van dat de schoonmaker het laken ververst, wassen wij het zelf.

yourself / oneself (emphatic)

Questions & Answers about In plaats van dat de schoonmaker het laken ververst, wassen wij het zelf.

Why is "dat" added to "in plaats van" here? Can't I just say "In plaats van de schoonmaker..."?

You need dat because the "instead of" part is a full clause with its own subject (de schoonmaker) and verb (ververst). If it were just followed by a noun phrase, you would use in plaats van on its own. But because it introduces a full action, you must use the complex conjunction in plaats van dat.

Why is the verb "ververst" at the very end of the first clause?

The phrase in plaats van dat acts as a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a subordinate clause, which forces the conjugated verb (ververst) to be pushed to the very end of that specific clause, right before the comma.

Why does the second half of the sentence say "wassen wij" instead of "wij wassen"?

This happens because of the verb-second (V2) rule. The entire first clause (In plaats van dat... ververst) occupies the first position of the main sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, the verb (wassen) must come immediately after the comma, followed by the subject (wij). This swapping of subject and verb is called inversion.

The English translation says "changing the sheet", but doesn't "ververst" literally mean "refreshes"?