Breakdown of Haastig de kamer vegend, zuchtte de vrouw, want ze had weinig tijd.
de vrouw
the woman
hebben
to have
de tijd
the time
de kamer
the room
want
because
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
weinig
little / few
zuchten
to sigh
haastig
hurriedly
vegen
to sweep
Questions & Answers about Haastig de kamer vegend, zuchtte de vrouw, want ze had weinig tijd.
How does the present participial clause Haastig de kamer vegend work here, and who is doing the sweeping?
This is a shortened clause (beknopte bijzin) showing an action happening at the same time as the main verb. It is formed by taking the infinitive of the verb vegen (to sweep) and adding -d to make the present participle vegend. A strict rule for these clauses is that their implied subject must match the subject of the main clause. Therefore, it is strictly de vrouw (the woman) who is doing the sweeping.
Why does the main clause start with the verb zuchtte instead of de vrouw zuchtte?
The entire participial clause (Haastig de kamer vegend) acts as the first position element in the overall sentence. In Dutch, whenever something other than the subject occupies the first position, inversion occurs. Therefore, the verb (zuchtte) must come immediately after the comma, placed before the subject (de vrouw).
Why is the word order Haastig de kamer vegend and not Vegend de kamer haastig like in English?
In Dutch participial clauses, the present participle (vegend) is always pushed to the very end of the clause. Any adverbs (haastig) and direct objects (de kamer) must be placed before it. This mirrors the standard Dutch verb-final word order found in normal subordinate clauses.
Why is the word order normal after want, and how would it change if we used omdat?
The word want (for/because) is a coordinating conjunction, meaning it connects two main clauses without changing their word order, which gives us ze had weinig tijd. If you used omdat (because), which is a subordinating conjunction, the verb would be pushed to the end of the clause, making it ..., omdat ze weinig tijd had.
Learn Haastig de kamer vegend, zuchtte de vrouw, want ze had weinig tijd and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free