Breakdown of Mocht de update mislukken, open dan een nieuw venster.
een
a/an
mogen
to be allowed to / may
nieuw
new
dan
then
Questions & Answers about Mocht de update mislukken, open dan een nieuw venster.
Why does this sentence start with Mocht instead of a word for 'if'?
This is a structure used to express a highly unlikely condition, similar to starting an English sentence with 'Should...' instead of 'If...'. By dropping the word for 'if' (als), the verb mocht (the past tense of mogen) is moved to the very beginning of the clause to signal the condition.
Why is the verb mislukken in its full infinitive form here?
Because mocht acts as a modal verb in this conditional structure. Just like in standard sentences, modal verbs push the main action verb (here, mislukken) to the end of the clause in its full infinitive form.
What is the function of the word dan in the second half of the sentence?
The word dan translates to 'then' and links the instruction back to the condition. Because the main clause is an imperative (a command starting with the verb open), inserting dan makes the transition between the two clauses flow much more naturally in Dutch.
Why doesn't the adjective nieuw get an -e ending here?
This is a quick refresher rule: venster is a neuter noun (het venster). When a het word is preceded by the indefinite article een (a/an), the adjective before it does not get an -e ending.