Breakdown of Het was de recensent die huilde, behalve dat hij niet verdrietig was.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
niet
not
verdrietig
sad
het
it
huilen
to cry
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
de recensent
the critic
behalve dat
except that
Questions & Answers about Het was de recensent die huilde, behalve dat hij niet verdrietig was.
How does behalve dat affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
Behalve dat (except that) acts as a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause, which forces the conjugated verb to the very end. That is why we say behalve dat hij niet verdrietig was instead of putting was directly after the subject.
Could I use buiten dat instead of behalve dat in this sentence?
Grammatically yes, but it would change the meaning. Behalve dat introduces an exception (except that). Buiten dat means 'besides the fact that' or 'in addition to'. Saying buiten dat hij niet verdrietig was would mean he was crying, and on top of that, he wasn't sad, which removes the contrast that makes this sentence interesting.
Why do we use die instead of dat after de recensent?
Because recensent is a de-word (de recensent). When a relative clause refers back to a de-word, you must use the relative pronoun die. If the noun had been a het-word, you would use dat.
Is Het was de recensent die... a common way to emphasize a subject in Dutch?
Yes! Just like in English ('It was the reviewer who...'), Dutch uses this cleft sentence structure to put strong focus on a specific part of the sentence. It highlights exactly who was crying, rather than just stating a neutral De recensent huilde.
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