Breakdown of Omdat de vulkaan rommelt, dreigt het dorp te verdwijnen.
het dorp
the village
verdwijnen
to disappear
omdat
because (subordinating)
te
to (infinitive marker)
de vulkaan
the volcano
dreigen
to threaten (to do something) / to be at risk of
rommelen
to rumble
Questions & Answers about Omdat de vulkaan rommelt, dreigt het dorp te verdwijnen.
Why does dreigt mean "is at risk of" here instead of "threatens"?
While dreigen literally means "to threaten", when it is used as an auxiliary verb with te and an infinitive, it indicates that a negative event is imminent. Because a village cannot actively "threaten" someone, dreigt te verdwijnen translates smoothly to "is in danger of disappearing" or "is at risk of disappearing".
Why is the word order dreigt het dorp instead of het dorp dreigt?
The sentence begins with the dependent clause Omdat de vulkaan rommelt. In Dutch, when a clause takes up the first position in a sentence, it triggers inversion in the main clause. The main verb (dreigt) must take the second position, immediately followed by the subject (het dorp).
Do I always need to use te with dreigen when adding another verb?
Yes, when you use dreigen (or beloven) as an auxiliary verb indicating that something is about to happen, you must follow it with te plus the infinitive of the main verb. Here, that gives us dreigt ... te verdwijnen.
Could I use belooft instead of dreigt in this sentence?
Grammatically, yes, you could say belooft het dorp te verdwijnen. However, beloven (to promise) is typically used for positive or neutral expectations (meaning "is likely to"). Because a village disappearing is a negative outcome, dreigen is the correct verb to use here.
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