Breakdown of Je zou hem niet overschatten als je hem echt kende.
niet
not
kennen
to know
zullen
shall / will
hem
him
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
echt
real; really (genuinely)
als
if / when (condition)
overschatten
to overestimate
Questions & Answers about Je zou hem niet overschatten als je hem echt kende.
Why is kende in the past tense if this sentence is about the present?
Just like in English ('if you knew him'), Dutch uses the simple past tense in an als clause to express an unreal or hypothetical situation in the present. It implies that you don't actually know him right now.
Why do we use zou with the infinitive overschatten here?
The verb zullen (here in its past form zou) combined with an infinitive creates the conditional mood. It translates to 'would overestimate' and describes the imaginary result of the hypothetical condition.
Is overschatten a separable verb?
No, overschatten (to overestimate) is inseparable. For verbs starting with over-, the verb is inseparable if the spoken emphasis falls on the stem rather than the prefix (over-schat-ten). Because it is inseparable, it doesn't split in a main clause, and its past participle doesn't take a ge- prefix (e.g., Ik heb hem overschat).
Why does kende go at the very end of its clause?
The word als (if) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a subordinate clause, which forces all verbs in that specific part of the sentence to the very end.
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