Breakdown of Het project is betekenisloos, behalve dat het provocerend wil zijn.
zijn
to be
willen
to want
het project
the project
het
it
behalve dat
except that
betekenisloos
meaningless
provocerend
provocative
Questions & Answers about Het project is betekenisloos, behalve dat het provocerend wil zijn.
How does behalve dat affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
Behalve dat (except that) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause and forces all the verbs to the end. That is why the verbs wil zijn (wants to be) sit at the very end of the sentence, rather than right after the subject het.
Could I use buiten dat instead of behalve dat here?
It would sound strange because it changes the logic. Behalve dat introduces an exception (the project has no meaning, with the sole exception that it wants to provoke). Buiten dat means "besides the fact that" or "in addition to." Using it here would imply the project has no meaning and additionally it wants to provoke, which makes the two ideas feel less connected.
Why is the verb cluster at the end wil zijn and not zijn wil?
In a subordinate clause, when you have a conjugated modal verb (like wil) and an infinitive (like zijn), the conjugated modal verb almost always comes first. While Dutch sometimes allows you to swap verb orders at the end of a sentence (the famous "red" and "green" word orders), placing the modal verb before the infinitive (wil zijn) is the standard, natural-sounding choice here.
Is the suffix in betekenisloos the exact equivalent of the English "-less"?
Yes! The Dutch suffix -loos works exactly like the English suffix "-less" to mean "without." Here, betekenis (meaning) + -loos gives us betekenisloos (meaningless). You will see this in many other B2-level words, such as werkloos (unemployed/workless) or hopeloos (hopeless).
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