Word
Mocht het scherm onverwacht een fout weergeven, bel dan de helpdesk.
Meaning
Should the screen unexpectedly display an error, call the helpdesk.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Mocht het scherm onverwacht een fout weergeven, bel dan de helpdesk.
een
a/an
bellen
to call
mogen
to be allowed to / may
het
it
Questions & Answers about Mocht het scherm onverwacht een fout weergeven, bel dan de helpdesk.
Why does this sentence start with mocht, which normally means 'was allowed to'?
In conditional sentences, placing mocht (or mochten for plural subjects) at the start creates a high-improbability conditional. It is the exact Dutch equivalent of starting an English sentence with 'Should...' or 'If by any chance...'. The action verb it pairs with goes to the end of the clause as an infinitive.
Why is weergeven at the very end of the first clause?
Because mocht functions as an auxiliary verb here, it pushes the main action verb (weergeven) to the very end of its clause in its full infinitive form.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb bel?
The entire 'should' clause before the comma acts as the first block of information in the sentence. To satisfy the verb-second rule, the conjugated verb of the main clause (bel) must come immediately after the comma. Since this is an imperative (a command), there is no subject pronoun.
Is the word dan strictly necessary in the main clause?
While not strictly grammatically required, it is highly common and natural in Dutch to use dan (then) to resume a sentence after a conditional clause. It acts as a smooth bridge between the condition and the instruction.