Breakdown of De situatie is zo omstreden dat de minister vertrekt.
zijn
to be
vertrekken
to leave / to depart
zo
so (to such a degree)
dat
that (conjunction)
de minister
the minister
de situatie
the situation
omstreden
controversial
Questions & Answers about De situatie is zo omstreden dat de minister vertrekt.
The translation says 'controversial', but the Dutch word is omstreden. Can I just use controversieel here?
Yes, controversieel is a recognized Dutch word and fits perfectly. However, omstreden is heavily used in Dutch news and politics. It literally implies something is 'fought over' or 'contested', coming from the verb strijden (to fight or struggle).
Does the zo ... dat (so ... that) structure affect the word order?
Yes. While zo omstreden sits in the main clause, the word dat (that) always introduces a subordinate clause. This means all verbs in that part of the sentence must move to the end. In dat de minister vertrekt, there is only one verb, so it naturally sits at the end anyway.
The English uses 'is leaving', but vertrekt is simple present. Why isn't a continuous form used here?
Dutch rarely uses a continuous form (like is aan het vertrekken) for sudden events or formal news announcements. The simple present (vertrekt) is the standard way to express an action happening right now or in the immediate future.
If I wanted to express the opposite using this lesson's connector niettemin (The situation is controversial, nevertheless the minister is staying), how would the word order look?
You would typically use two main clauses: De situatie is omstreden. Niettemin blijft de minister. Because niettemin (nevertheless) is an adverbial connector, putting it at the start of the second clause causes inversion, meaning the verb (blijft) must come before the subject (de minister).
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