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
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...?