Breakdown of De directeur zei dat hij zou doneren, zodoende bereikten we het streefbedrag.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
zeggen
to say
zullen
shall / will
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
dat
that (conjunction)
doneren
to donate
de directeur
the director (of a company or school)
bereiken
to achieve / to reach (a goal)
zodoende
consequently / thus
het streefbedrag
the target amount
Questions & Answers about De directeur zei dat hij zou doneren, zodoende bereikten we het streefbedrag.
Why is the word order bereikten we instead of we bereikten after zodoende?
Zodoende is an adverbial connector meaning 'consequently' or 'as a result'. When you start a main clause with an adverb like this, it takes up the first position and triggers inversion. The finite verb bereikten must come in the second position, directly followed by the subject we.
Could I use daarom instead of zodoende in this sentence?
Yes, daarom (therefore) works perfectly here and triggers the exact same word order. However, zodoende (literally 'doing so' or 'in such a manner') focuses slightly more on the action leading up to the result. It also sounds a bit more formal than daarom.
Why is zou doneren used rather than zal doneren?
This is reported speech in the past tense. Since the reporting verb is in the past tense (zei, meaning 'said'), the promised future action must also shift one tense back. The future auxiliary verb zal (will) shifts to the past conditional zou (would), just like in English.
What is the literal breakdown of the compound word streefbedrag?
It is a compound noun made from the verb stem streef (from streven, meaning to strive or aim for) and the noun bedrag (amount). It literally means 'strive amount', which is the standard term for a 'target amount' or 'goal' in fundraising.
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