Question 1

How does stel dat affect the word order in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Stel dat acts as a subordinating conjunction. Because of the word dat, the following part becomes a subordinate clause, which pushes the conjugated verb (is) to the very end of the sentence.

Question 2

Why are we using the present tense is here instead of a conditional tense for a hypothetical situation?

Accepted Answer

In Dutch, stel dat can be followed by the present indicative tense when you present a hypothetical situation as a realistic possibility or a direct proposition to consider. If you wanted to emphasize that it is highly unlikely or purely imaginary, you could use the past tense (was or zou zijn).

Question 3

Could I drop dat and just use stel on its own?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Stel is the imperative form of stellen (to suppose). You can simply say Stel, dit zakenplan is heel rendabel. Notice that if you drop dat, the clause behaves like a normal main clause, so the verb is goes back to the second position instead of the end.

Question 4

Why is it dit zakenplan and not deze zakenplan?

Accepted Answer

Zakenplan is a neuter word (het zakenplan), so we use dit for "this". As a quick refresher: compound nouns always take the article and gender of their final part, which in this case is het plan.

Stel dat dit zakenplan heel rendabel is.

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