Question 1

How exactly does Het is dat work in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

It translates to "It's just that..." or "The only reason is that...". It is used to give the specific reason why something did not happen. It introduces a subordinate clause (which is why the verb komt goes to the very end of that part), and it is almost always followed by an anders... (otherwise...) clause explaining what would have happened.

Question 2

Is ongelegen komt a fixed expression?

Accepted Answer

Yes, ongelegen komen means "to be inconvenient" or "to come at a bad time". You can use it for visits, phone calls, or events like this dinner (etentje). For example, if you want to say "Am I interrupting?" when you call or visit someone, a very natural way to ask is "Kom ik ongelegen?"

Question 3

Why is the word order anders was ik instead of anders ik was?

Accepted Answer

The word anders (otherwise) occupies the first position in this second clause. Because this is a main clause, the conjugated verb must always take the second position (the V2 rule). Therefore, the verb was comes immediately after anders, pushing the subject ik to the third position.

Question 4

The English translation says "would have come", so why does the Dutch use was ... gekomen instead of zou ... zijn gekomen?

Accepted Answer

In Dutch, you can often replace the longer "zou zijn/hebben + past participle" structure with just the past perfect tense (was/had + past participle) when expressing a counterfactual (something that didn't actually happen). Saying anders was ik zeker gekomen is a shorter, very common alternative to anders zou ik zeker zijn gekomen.

Het is dat dit etentje erg ongelegen komt, anders was ik zeker gekomen.

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