Breakdown of Wat cruciaal is voor het team, is jouw drijfveer.
zijn
to be
jouw
your
het team
the team
voor
for (on behalf of)
Questions & Answers about Wat cruciaal is voor het team, is jouw drijfveer.
Why are there two is verbs right next to each other, separated only by a comma?
This happens because of the pseudo-cleft structure used to emphasize jouw drijfveer. The entire first clause (Wat cruciaal is voor het team) acts as a single subject block in the first position of the main sentence. Because Dutch main clauses strictly follow the V2 (verb-second) rule, the main verb (is) must immediately follow that whole block, causing the two verbs to meet at the comma.
In the first clause, shouldn't the verb is go at the very end? Why is it placed before voor het team?
You are right that in a subordinate clause (like the one starting with Wat), the verb typically goes at the very end: Wat cruciaal voor het team is. However, Dutch allows prepositional phrases (phrases starting with words like voor, met, or aan) to be pushed after the final verb. This is very common because it prevents the end of the sentence from becoming too "heavy" with verbs and makes it flow more naturally.
How exactly does the word drijfveer break down?
Drijfveer translates to "motivation" or "drive." It is a compound of drijf (from drijven, meaning to drive or float) and veer (meaning a spring, like a coiled metal spring). It figuratively refers to the internal mechanical spring that pushes someone into action.
Could I say Dat wat cruciaal is... instead of just ?