Breakdown of Zodra men hem benoemt, moet hij de eed afleggen.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
moeten
to have to, must
hem
him
zodra
as soon as
men
one / people (general)
benoemen
to appoint
de eed
the oath
afleggen
to take (an oath)
Questions & Answers about Zodra men hem benoemt, moet hij de eed afleggen.
Why does this sentence use afleggen instead of nemen for "to take"?
In Dutch, taking an oath is a fixed formal expression: een eed afleggen. You cannot translate "to take" literally with nemen in this context. Afleggen is frequently used in official or legal phrasing for making formal declarations, such as een verklaring afleggen (to make a statement).
Why is the formal pronoun men used here instead of je or ze?
Why does the second part of the sentence say moet hij instead of hij moet?
This is a classic case of inversion triggered by putting a subordinate clause first. The entire clause Zodra men hem benoemt occupies the first grammatical position in the sentence. To satisfy the Dutch "verb-second" (V2) rule, the conjugated verb of the main clause (moet) must immediately follow the comma, which pushes the subject (hij) behind the verb.
Does zodra trigger any special word order in the first clause?
Yes, zodra (as soon as) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it creates a subordinate clause where all verbs are pushed to the end. That is why the conjugated verb benoemt sits at the very end of its clause, right before the comma.
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