Breakdown of Ook al wilden we elke donateur benaderen, we hadden te weinig tijd.
hebben
to have
de tijd
the time
willen
to want
te
too
Questions & Answers about Ook al wilden we elke donateur benaderen, we hadden te weinig tijd.
Why is there no inversion in the main clause (we hadden instead of hadden we)?
This is a unique quirk of the phrase ook al (even though). Normally, if a Dutch sentence starts with a subordinate clause, the following main clause inverts the subject and verb. However, the main clause following an ook al phrase is a rare exception and keeps the standard Subject-Verb order (we hadden).
Why doesn't the verb go to the end of the ook al clause?
Unlike standard subordinating conjunctions such as hoewel (although), ook al acts like an adverbial phrase placed at the start of the sentence. This means it triggers immediate inversion (wilden we) rather than pushing the verbs to the very end of the clause.
How would the word order change if I used hoewel (although) instead?
Because hoewel is a standard subordinating conjunction, the first clause would push the verbs to the end, and the main clause would use inversion. The sentence would become: Hoewel we elke donateur wilden benaderen, hadden we te weinig tijd.
How could we express this scenario using the connector zodoende from our current lesson?