Breakdown of De artiest is zo gespannen dat hij fouten maakt.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
maken
to make
de fout
the mistake
Questions & Answers about De artiest is zo gespannen dat hij fouten maakt.
How does the zo ... dat structure affect the word order in this sentence?
The structure zo + adjective + dat means "so [adjective] that". The word dat introduces a subordinate clause, which means it kicks the conjugated verb (maakt) all the way to the end of that clause. That is why the sentence ends with dat hij fouten maakt instead of "dat hij maakt fouten".
Can I leave out the word dat, just like we often drop "that" in English?
No, you cannot drop dat here. In English, you might casually say "The artist is so tense he makes mistakes," but in Dutch, you must always include dat to link these two clauses together.
Does artiest mean a painter or sculptor here?
Probably not! In Dutch, an artiest is usually a performing artist, like a singer, musician, or actor. If you are talking about a fine artist, like a painter, you would use the word kunstenaar.
Gespannen looks like a past participle verb. Why is it used this way?
It is indeed the past participle of the verb spannen (to stretch or tighten). Just like in English, Dutch frequently uses past participles as regular adjectives. Here, gespannen translates to "tense", "stressed", or "anxious".