Breakdown of Al is de berg steil, ze zijn niet bang voor een lawine.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
niet
not
de berg
the mountain
bang
scared
voor
for (on behalf of)
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
al
even if (concessive)
steil
steep
de lawine
the avalanche
bang zijn voor
to be afraid of
Questions & Answers about Al is de berg steil, ze zijn niet bang voor een lawine.
Why does the sentence start with Al is instead of normal word order?
When al is used to mean "even if" or "although", it forces a special word order. Instead of a normal subject-verb order, the verb comes first immediately after al. So we say Al is de berg steil rather than Al de berg is steil.
Why is there no inversion after the comma? Shouldn't it be zijn ze niet bang?
That is a great question! Normally, starting a sentence with a dependent clause causes inversion in the main clause. However, sentences starting with al (meaning "even if") are a rare exception to this rule. The main clause simply keeps its normal subject-verb order: ze zijn.
I've seen al used to mean "already". How do I know it means "even if" here?
The secret is the word order. If al meant "already", it would be an adverb inside a normal sentence, like De berg is al steil (The mountain is already steep). When al sits at the very beginning and is immediately followed by a verb, it means "even if" or "although".
Why do we use voor in bang voor een lawine? Doesn't voor mean "for"?
Yes, voor usually means "for", but prepositions often don't translate word-for-word. In Dutch, the fixed combination is bang zijn voor (literally: to be afraid for). You will always use voor when saying you are afraid of something.
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