Breakdown of In plaats van dat de kok het ontbijtbuffet bijvult, sluit de manager de keuken.
de keuken
the kitchen
sluiten
to close
de kok
the cook
de manager
the manager
Questions & Answers about In plaats van dat de kok het ontbijtbuffet bijvult, sluit de manager de keuken.
Why do we use dat here instead of just translating 'instead of the cook refilling'?
English often uses 'instead of' plus an -ing verb. Dutch doesn't do this. When you have a new subject doing the action (here, de kok), you must use in plaats van dat to introduce a full subordinate clause. This means the conjugated verb (bijvult) gets pushed to the end of that clause.
Could I use the 'te + infinitive' structure here, like in plaats van het ontbijtbuffet bij te vullen?
Not in this sentence! You can only use in plaats van ... te plus an infinitive if the person doing the action is the same in both halves of the sentence. Here, the cook (de kok) is doing the refilling, but the manager (de manager) is closing the kitchen. Because there are two different subjects, you have to use in plaats van dat.
Why is the second part of the sentence sluit de manager and not de manager sluit?
The entire first clause (In plaats van dat de kok het ontbijtbuffet bijvult) acts as the first position of the overall sentence. Because Dutch strictly follows the 'verb second' (V2) rule in main clauses, the main verb must come next. Therefore, the verb sluit comes immediately after the comma, followed by its subject, de manager.
I know bijvullen (to refill) is a separable verb. Why aren't the parts separated here?