Breakdown of Wij sluiten de deur, opdat niemand de kwetsbare vondst steelt.
wij
we
de deur
the door
sluiten
to close
niemand
no one
stelen
to steal
de vondst
the find / the discovery
kwetsbaar
fragile / vulnerable
opdat
so that / in order that (purpose)
Questions & Answers about Wij sluiten de deur, opdat niemand de kwetsbare vondst steelt.
How does opdat affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
Because opdat is a subordinating conjunction, it forces the clause into subclause word order. This means the conjugated verb, steelt, is pushed all the way to the very end of the sentence.
Is opdat commonly used in everyday conversation?
Not really. opdat is quite formal and is mostly found in written Dutch. In everyday speech, you are much more likely to hear zodat (so that), which also means 'so that' and sends the verb to the end of the clause in exactly the same way.
Why does the adjective kwetsbaar get an -e at the end here?
It gets an -e because vondst is a de-word (de vondst) and it is preceded by the definite article de. In Dutch, adjectives directly in front of a noun generally get this -e ending, with the main exception being a het-word preceded by an indefinite word like een or geen.
How is the noun vondst related to the verb for 'to find'?
vondst translates to a 'find' or 'discovery'. It is formed by taking the root of the verb vinden (to find) and adding the noun-forming suffix -st. You will see this same pattern in other Dutch words, such as aankomst (arrival) from aankomen and winst (profit) from winnen.
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