Breakdown of Zij kon de man achter de ruit aanwijzen, zonder dat hij haar zag.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
zij
she
de man
the man
zien
to see
Questions & Answers about Zij kon de man achter de ruit aanwijzen, zonder dat hij haar zag.
In English we say "without him seeing her." Why does the Dutch sentence use zonder dat?
Dutch doesn't use an "-ing" verb form (a gerund) after prepositions. To express "without someone doing something," you must use the conjunction phrase zonder dat (literally "without that") followed by a subordinate clause.
What is the difference between de ruit and het raam?
While often used interchangeably, de ruit specifically means the window pane or the glass itself. Het raam usually refers to the entire window, including the frame. In the context of a one-way mirror or an observation room, focusing on the glass (de ruit) is very typical.
Aanwijzen (to point out) is a separable verb. Why is it written as one word here?
You only split a separable verb when it is the active, conjugated verb in a main clause. In this sentence, the modal verb kon (could) is the conjugated verb. This pushes aanwijzen to the end of the main clause as a full, unseparated infinitive.
Why does zag come at the very end of the sentence?
The conjunction zonder dat introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb (in this case, zag) is always pushed to the very end of the clause, coming after the subject (hij) and the object (haar).