Breakdown of We sluipen stiekempjes naar binnen, voor het geval dat hij wakker is.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
naar
to
binnen
inside
Questions & Answers about We sluipen stiekempjes naar binnen, voor het geval dat hij wakker is.
How does stiekempjes differ from just using stiekem here?
Stiekem means "secretly", and stiekempjes is its adverbial diminutive. Because stiekem ends in an m, we add -pjes. This suffix softens the action. While stiekem might imply a serious or malicious secret, stiekempjes makes the sneaking sound more playful, careful, or harmless.
Why use naar binnen instead of just binnen for "inside"?
Because there is movement from the outside to the inside. In Dutch, you use naar (to) plus the location word to show direction. If you said we sluipen binnen, it would imply you are already inside the building and sneaking around in there.
Is the word dat required in the phrase voor het geval dat?
No, it is optional. You will very often hear Dutch speakers say just voor het geval hij wakker is. Both versions mean "in case" and both trigger the exact same word order in the rest of the clause.
Why is the verb is at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase voor het geval (dat) introduces a subordinate (dependent) clause. As a B2 refresher: in Dutch subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb is always pushed to the end, which is why we say hij wakker is instead of hij is wakker.