Breakdown of Aangezien mijn vader ziek is, kookt hij zoutarm.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
koken
to cook
mijn
my
Questions & Answers about Aangezien mijn vader ziek is, kookt hij zoutarm.
How does the suffix -arm work in zoutarm?
The suffix -arm literally means poor, but when attached to a noun, it means low in that substance. Here, zoutarm means low-salt. It is a highly productive suffix, meaning you can easily stick it onto other ingredients to form new words, such as suikerarm (low-sugar), vetarm (low-fat), or koolhydraatarm (low-carb).
Is zoutarm an adjective or an adverb in this sentence?
It is functioning as an adverb here because it describes how he cooks (kookt). In Dutch, adjectives used as adverbs do not get any special endings, unlike English which often adds -ly. The word simply stays in its uninflected base form.
Why does the sentence say kookt hij instead of hij kookt?
This happens because of the Verb-Second (V2) rule. The entire first clause (Aangezien mijn vader ziek is) occupies the first position of the main sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, kookt must come immediately after the comma, which pushes the subject (hij) to the third position.
Can I use omdat instead of aangezien here?