Breakdown of Indien de opdracht het vereist, blijven we thuis om te kunnen werken.
thuis
at home
werken
to work
het
it
blijven
to stay
Questions & Answers about Indien de opdracht het vereist, blijven we thuis om te kunnen werken.
Why is te placed before kunnen instead of werken?
In an om ... te clause with multiple infinitives, te is always placed immediately before the auxiliary or modal verb. Here, the modal verb is kunnen (to be able to), so it becomes om te kunnen werken, not om kunnen te werken.
Could I use als instead of indien here?
Yes, als and indien both mean 'if' and trigger the same word order (sending the verb to the end of the clause). However, indien is more formal. You will often see it in written instructions, contracts, or professional contexts like this one about an assignment (de opdracht).
Why is the word order blijven we and not we blijven?
The sentence begins with a subordinate clause (Indien de opdracht het vereist). This entire clause takes up the first position in the sentence. Because Dutch is a V2 (verb-second) language, the main verb (blijven) must take the second position, forcing the subject (we) to come directly after it.
Is the word het strictly necessary after vereist?