Breakdown of Buiten dat de Verenigde Staten groot zijn, hebben ze veel natuur.
zijn
to be
groot
big
hebben
to have
veel
much / many / a lot of
buiten
outside
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
dat
that (conjunction)
de natuur
nature
de Verenigde Staten
the United States
Questions & Answers about Buiten dat de Verenigde Staten groot zijn, hebben ze veel natuur.
Why does Dutch use the plural verbs zijn and hebben for a single country?
Can I drop the article de and just say Verenigde Staten?
No, the article de is mandatory here. In Dutch, geographical names that are plural, like de Verenigde Staten or de Filipijnen (the Philippines), always require the plural definite article de.
Why is the main verb hebben placed right after the comma?
This is the Dutch verb-second rule in action. The entire dependent clause (Buiten dat de Verenigde Staten groot zijn) occupies the first position in the overall sentence. Therefore, the main verb (hebben) must immediately follow it to take the second position, causing subject-verb inversion (hebben ze instead of ze hebben).
How does buiten dat affect the word order in the first half of the sentence?
Buiten dat translates to 'besides the fact that' and works as a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause, which pushes its verb (zijn) all the way to the end of that clause, right before the comma.
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