Word
De recensent zal het gerecht omschrijven, ook al is hij moe.
Meaning
The critic will describe the dish, even though he is tired.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De recensent zal het gerecht omschrijven, ook al is hij moe.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
moe
tired
zullen
shall / will
Questions & Answers about De recensent zal het gerecht omschrijven, ook al is hij moe.
Why is the word order is hij after ook al, instead of sending the verb to the end?
Unlike most subordinating conjunctions (like hoewel) which push the conjugated verb to the end of the clause, ook al (even though) triggers inversion. You place the verb immediately after ook al, followed by the subject: ...ook al is hij moe. If you used hoewel, it would be ...hoewel hij moe is.
Is omschrijven a separable or inseparable verb here?
In this sentence, it is inseparable. When omschrijven means 'to describe' or 'to define', the spoken emphasis is on schrijven, and it is inseparable (past participle: omschreven). If it meant 'to rewrite', the emphasis would be on om, and it would be separable (past participle: omgeschreven).
Could I use gaat instead of zal here?
Yes, gaat ... omschrijven is grammatically fine and common in casual speech. However, zal (zullen) is often preferred in writing to express a formal intention, a promise, or a professional expectation (the critic's job is to describe the dish, and he will do so regardless of fatigue).
How could we rewrite this to say 'the dish will allow itself to be described' using the zich laten construction from this lesson?