Breakdown of Hoewel het feest wordt gepland, wil hij niet afbouwen.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
niet
not
het feest
the party
willen
to want
worden
to become
hoewel
although
plannen
to plan
afbouwen
to wind down / reduce
Questions & Answers about Hoewel het feest wordt gepland, wil hij niet afbouwen.
Why is it wil hij instead of hij wil in the second half of the sentence?
The first part of the sentence (Hoewel het feest wordt gepland) is a subordinate clause that takes up the entire first position. Because Dutch main clauses strictly follow the verb-second (V2) rule, the main verb (wil) must come immediately after that first block, which pushes the subject (hij) after the verb.
Why are both verbs (wordt and gepland) at the very end of the first clause?
The word hoewel (although) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a subordinate clause, which means all the verbs in that specific clause are pushed to the end.
How does wordt gepland translate to "is being planned"? Doesn't wordt mean "becomes"?
In Dutch, the passive voice is formed using the verb worden alongside a past participle (here, gepland). While worden means "to become" on its own, it functions exactly like the English "to be" when describing an action that is currently being done to a subject.
What does afbouwen literally mean, and why isn't it separated here?
Afbouwen literally translates to "to build down" or "to dismantle," but it is a common expression for "to wind down" or "to phase out" (like gradually reducing work hours before retirement). It is a separable verb, but because it is paired with the modal verb wil, the entire infinitive is pushed to the end of the sentence and remains attached as a single word.
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