Breakdown of Datgene wat u zegt is spijtig, omdat het erg ongelegen komt.
zijn
to be
u
you (formal)
zeggen
to say
komen
to come
erg
very / really
het
it
omdat
because (subordinating)
wat
that / which (relative)
datgene
that which
ongelegen
inconvenient
spijtig
regrettable
Questions & Answers about Datgene wat u zegt is spijtig, omdat het erg ongelegen komt.
Why does the sentence start with Datgene wat instead of just Wat?
Datgene wat literally translates to "that which". While you could simply say Wat u zegt... (What you say...), using Datgene wat adds emphasis and sounds more formal. It specifically singles out the exact thing being discussed.
Could I use jammer instead of spijtig here?
Yes, you could say ... is jammer, which is much more common in everyday spoken Dutch. Spijtig means "regrettable" or "unfortunate" and carries a slightly more formal, serious tone than jammer, which perfectly matches the use of the formal pronoun u in this sentence.
Why is the verb komt (comes) used with ongelegen (inconvenient)?
In Dutch, the fixed expression for a situation or timing being "inconvenient" is ongelegen komen (literally "to come inconveniently"). When talking about bad timing, you don't use the verb zijn (to be); you must use komen.
Why is the verb komt pushed to the very end of the sentence?
The conjunction omdat (because) introduces a subordinate clause, which forces the conjugated verb (komt) to the end of that clause. If you wanted to keep the standard main-clause word order, you would use want instead: ... want het komt erg ongelegen.
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