Breakdown of Nauwelijks was ik ingestapt, of ik was al duizelig.
ik
I
zijn
to be
instappen
to board / to get in
al
already
duizelig
dizzy
nauwelijks
hardly / scarcely
of
when (after 'nauwelijks/amper')
Questions & Answers about Nauwelijks was ik ingestapt, of ik was al duizelig.
Why does the sentence start with was ik instead of ik was?
Because the sentence begins with the restrictive adverb nauwelijks (scarcely/hardly). When you put a negative or restrictive word at the front of a sentence for emphasis, it triggers inversion. The verb (was) must stay in the second position, so the subject (ik) moves right after it.
Does of mean "or" in this sentence?
Not in this context. The combination nauwelijks ..., of ... is a fixed expression that translates to "scarcely/hardly ..., when ...". In Dutch, we use of here to link the two events, similar to how English uses "when" after "scarcely".
Why is the word order in the second half of ik was al duizelig rather than putting the verb at the end?
Even though it translates to "when", the word of functions as a coordinating conjunction here (like en or maar). Coordinating conjunctions do not change the word order, so the second clause follows the standard subject-verb main clause order: ik was.
Why do we use was instead of had for "had I got in"?
The verb instappen (to get in/board) involves a change of location or state. In Dutch, verbs of motion use zijn (to be) rather than hebben (to have) as their auxiliary verb for perfect tenses. Therefore, "I had got in" becomes ik was ingestapt.
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