Breakdown of Het medicijn is veilig, indien het buiten het bereik van kinderen is.
zijn
to be
het kind
the child
buiten
outside
het
it
veilig
safe
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
het medicijn
the medicine
indien
in the event that
het bereik
the reach
Questions & Answers about Het medicijn is veilig, indien het buiten het bereik van kinderen is.
What is the difference between indien and als in this context?
Both mean "if", but indien is much more formal. You will often see it in written instructions, legal texts, or medical leaflets, which fits perfectly with this sentence about medicine. In everyday speech, you would usually just use als.
Why is the second is placed at the very end of the sentence?
Because indien is a subordinating conjunction. Just like omdat or als, it introduces a dependent clause. In Dutch, this forces the conjugated verb (is) to be pushed to the very end of that clause.
Can I leave out the word het and just say buiten bereik van kinderen?
While buiten bereik (out of reach) is a common fixed phrase that drops the article, you usually add het back in when you specify exactly whose reach it is. Therefore, buiten het bereik van kinderen is the standard way to phrase this warning in Dutch.
Why do we use the pronoun het in indien het buiten...?
The pronoun het refers back to het medicijn. Because medicijn is a neuter noun (a het-word), you must use the pronoun het to refer to it, rather than hij or zij.
Learn Het medicijn is veilig, indien het buiten het bereik van kinderen is and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free