Breakdown of De stroming is hier het sterkst, dus zwemmen we niet.
zijn
to be
hier
here
niet
not
zwemmen
to swim
het
it
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
dus
so, therefore
sterk
strong
de stroming
the current
Questions & Answers about De stroming is hier het sterkst, dus zwemmen we niet.
Why is there an inversion (zwemmen we) after dus? I thought coordinating conjunctions didn't change the word order.
While conjunctions like en, maar, and want do not change the word order, dus is special. It frequently acts as an adverb, occupying the first position in the second clause. Because of the V2 rule in Dutch main clauses, the verb must sit in the second position. Therefore, the verb zwemmen comes immediately after dus, causing the subject we to move after the verb.
Why is 'the strongest' translated as het sterkst instead of de sterkste?
When a superlative adjective is used predicatively (meaning it follows a verb like 'to be' to describe the subject, rather than sitting directly in front of a noun), Dutch requires het before it, and the adjective gets the -st ending. If it were placed directly in front of the noun, you would instead use de sterkste stroming (the strongest current).
The translation says 'we will not swim', so why doesn't the Dutch sentence use a future tense verb like zullen?
In Dutch, the simple present tense is the most common and natural way to talk about future plans or intentions, especially when the context makes it obvious. Using the auxiliary verb zullen here (dus zullen we niet zwemmen) is grammatically correct but sounds unnecessarily formal or emphatic for a straightforward decision.
Could I place hier at the very end of the first clause, saying 'De stroming is het sterkst hier'?
No, that would sound quite unnatural to a native speaker. In Dutch, predicative expressions like het sterkst generally close the core idea of the clause and belong at the end. Adverbs of place like hier should come shortly after the verb. You could, however, move it to the beginning for emphasis: Hier is de stroming het sterkst.
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