Word
Wanneer het apparaat ook piept, de onvermoeibare schatzoeker voelt de sensatie.
Meaning
No matter when the device beeps, the tireless treasure hunter feels the thrill.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Wanneer het apparaat ook piept, de onvermoeibare schatzoeker voelt de sensatie.
ook
also / -ever (concessive particle)
wanneer
when
het apparaat
the appliance / the device
voelen
to feel (something) / to seem/feel (a certain way)
Questions & Answers about Wanneer het apparaat ook piept, de onvermoeibare schatzoeker voelt de sensatie.
How does Wanneer ... ook work here, and why is the verb at the end of that part?
The phrase Wanneer ... ook translates to "whenever" or "no matter when". It creates a universal concessive clause. Like most subclauses in Dutch, it forces its verbs to the end, which is why piept sits at the end of the phrase before the comma.
Wait, shouldn't the second part be voelt de onvermoeibare schatzoeker since the sentence starts with a subclause?
Normally, yes! Starting a sentence with a subclause usually triggers inversion (verb before subject) in the main clause. However, universal concessive clauses with ook are a special exception. They act like an independent, extra thought outside the main sentence structure, so the main clause just keeps its regular subject-verb word order: de onvermoeibare schatzoeker voelt.
How is the word onvermoeibare formed?
It is built from the prefix on- (un-), the verb vermoeien (to tire), and the suffix -baar (-able), creating onvermoeibaar (tireless). It gets an -e at the end here because it comes after the definite article de and modifies the noun schatzoeker.
Could I use altijd als instead of wanneer ... ook?