Voor zover wij weten, dekt de polis medische zorg.
As far as we know, the policy covers medical care.
Breakdown of Voor zover wij weten, dekt de polis medische zorg.
wij
we
weten
to know (a fact)
de zorg
the care; the worry
voor zover
as far as / to the extent that
Questions & Answers about Voor zover wij weten, dekt de polis medische zorg.
Why is the verb 'weten' at the very end of the first clause?
The phrase voor zover (as far as) acts as a subordinating conjunction here. It introduces a dependent clause, which means it pushes the verb for that clause (weten) all the way to the end.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with 'dekt' instead of 'de polis'?
This happens because of the Dutch "verb-second" (V2) rule. The entire first clause (Voor zover wij weten) counts as the first piece of information in the sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, dekt (covers) must come right after the comma. This forces the subject (de polis) to move after the verb, which is called inversion.
Can I use 'voor zover' to talk about physical distance, like "I walked as far as the hospital"?
No. Voor zover is strictly used for abstract or figurative limits, such as what you know, can see, or can judge. If you are talking about physical distance (as far as a location), you should use tot or tot aan, for example: tot aan het ziekenhuis.
Why does the adjective 'medische' get an -e ending here, even though there's no article like 'de' or 'een' before it?
The noun zorg (care) is a de-word. In Dutch, adjectives placed before a de-word always get the -e ending, regardless of whether there is an article in front of it or not.