Breakdown of Vanwege haar goede referenties weten we dat ze zorgzaam is.
zijn
to be
haar
her
goed
good
weten
to know (a fact)
Questions & Answers about Vanwege haar goede referenties weten we dat ze zorgzaam is.
Why does the verb weten come before the subject we in the main clause?
The sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Vanwege haar goede referenties. In Dutch, whenever something other than the subject takes the first position in a main clause, the verb and subject swap places (this is called inversion). Because the first position is taken, the finite verb stays in position two, forcing the subject we into position three.
Can I use omdat or doordat instead of vanwege here?
Not without changing the rest of the sentence. Vanwege is a preposition meaning 'because of' and is followed by a simple noun phrase (haar goede referenties). Omdat (because) and doordat (due to the fact that) are conjunctions, meaning they must introduce a full subordinate clause with its own subject and verb (for example: Omdat ze goede referenties heeft, ...).
How does the suffix -zaam work in the word zorgzaam?
The suffix -zaam is added to nouns or verb stems to create adjectives that mean 'inclined to' or 'characterized by' that quality. Attached to the noun zorg (care), it creates zorgzaam (caring / tending to care for others). Other common examples you might know are gehoorzaam (obedient) and langzaam (slow).
If I wanted to concede this point before introducing a counter-argument, where would I put ?