Word
Pas als dat gebeurt, dreigt het een heftige ramp te worden.
Meaning
Only when that happens, does it threaten to become a fierce disaster.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Pas als dat gebeurt, dreigt het een heftige ramp te worden.
een
a/an
dat
that (het-words)
het
it
worden
to become
Questions & Answers about Pas als dat gebeurt, dreigt het een heftige ramp te worden.
How does dreigen te function here? Does it mean someone is making a literal threat?
No, in this context dreigen te is an aspectual auxiliary used to indicate that something bad is at risk of happening or is looming. It does not imply a literal threat from a person. It functions similarly to the English phrase 'threatens to', as in 'the situation threatens to escalate'.
Why does the sentence start with Pas als? Could I use Alleen als for 'Only when'?
You could use alleen als to mean a strict condition ('solely if'), but pas als emphasizes the element of time or delay. It translates better to 'not until' that happens, highlighting that the disaster will not occur before that specific milestone is reached.
Why is the word order dreigt het instead of het dreigt?
This is an example of inversion. The entire dependent clause, Pas als dat gebeurt, occupies the first position in the sentence. Because Dutch uses verb-second (V2) word order in main clauses, the main verb (dreigt) must immediately follow that first chunk, placing it before the subject (het).
The word heftige translates to 'fierce' here. How is this word generally used in Dutch?
Heftig is a very common B2-level adjective meaning intense, extreme, or heavy. It can describe a physical disaster (een heftige ramp), an emotional argument (een heftige ruzie), or even be used on its own as an exclamation to mean 'That is intense!' when reacting to shocking news.