Breakdown of Doordat de verwijsbrief ontbreekt, wordt de patiënt niet behandeld.
niet
not
worden
to become
doordat
because of the fact that / because (cause)
behandelen
to treat / to discuss (cover a topic) / to handle
ontbreken
to be missing
de patiënt
the patient
de verwijsbrief
the referral letter
Questions & Answers about Doordat de verwijsbrief ontbreekt, wordt de patiënt niet behandeld.
How could we rewrite the first half of this sentence using the nominal style from this lesson?
You can replace the subordinate clause Doordat de verwijsbrief ontbreekt with a prepositional phrase using a nominalized verb: Door het ontbreken van de verwijsbrief. Here, the conjunction doordat becomes the preposition door, the verb ontbreekt turns into the noun phrase het ontbreken, and the subject de verwijsbrief gets connected with van.
Why use doordat here instead of omdat?
Doordat strictly indicates a direct, objective cause-and-effect relationship (the letter is missing, so the treatment cannot happen). Omdat implies a reason, often involving human motivation or a decision. While native speakers sometimes mix them up in casual speech, formal and written Dutch prefers doordat for strict logical causes, which fits the formal medical context of this sentence.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb wordt instead of the subject de patiënt?
This is an example of inversion. Because the entire first clause (Doordat de verwijsbrief ontbreekt) acts as a single block occupying the first position of the overall sentence, the main verb wordt must take the second position. The subject de patiënt then directly follows the verb.
The English translation says the patient "is not treated". Why do we use wordt instead of is?
This is the Dutch passive voice for an ongoing or general action. The auxiliary verb worden is used for the dynamic passive, meaning the action of treating is not taking place. If you used is behandeld, it would form the perfect tense passive, meaning the patient "has not been treated" in the past.
Learn Doordat de verwijsbrief ontbreekt, wordt de patiënt niet behandeld and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free