Breakdown of Daardoor verlamt het incident de hele fabriek.
de fabriek
the factory
het incident
the incident
heel
whole
daardoor
because of that / as a result
verlammen
to paralyze
Questions & Answers about Daardoor verlamt het incident de hele fabriek.
Why is the verb verlamt placed before the subject het incident in this sentence?
This is an example of V2 (verb-second) inversion, which is the main focus of your current lesson. Because the sentence starts with the causal adverb daardoor (because of that), the verb verlamt must take the second position. The subject het incident is then pushed to the third position, immediately after the verb.
Could I use daarom instead of daardoor here?
You could, but the meaning shifts slightly. Daardoor expresses a direct, physical cause-and-effect where the incident systematically causes the factory to stop. Daarom expresses a reason or a logical conclusion, often involving a conscious human decision. Since an incident causing a shutdown is a direct, involuntary effect, daardoor is the most natural choice.
Why does the adjective heel get an -e ending here (hele fabriek)?
Because fabriek is a 'de' word (de fabriek). In Dutch, adjectives placed before a noun almost always get an -e ending. The main exception is when you have a 'het' word preceded by an indefinite word (like een or geen), but since we are using the definite article de here, heel becomes hele.
Is the verb verlammen used metaphorically in Dutch the same way 'paralyze' is in English?
Yes, it works exactly the same way. While verlammen literally refers to a physical, medical paralysis, it is very commonly used in a figurative sense to mean bringing a process, organization, or system to a complete standstill.
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