Breakdown of De politie mag de auto wegslepen zonder dat u aanwezig bent.
zijn
to be
u
you (formal)
de auto
the car
mogen
to be allowed to / may
Questions & Answers about De politie mag de auto wegslepen zonder dat u aanwezig bent.
Why do we use zonder dat here instead of just zonder?
Zonder (without) is a preposition used before a noun, like in zonder jas (without a coat). Because we are introducing an entire new clause with a subject (u) and a conjugated verb (bent), we must use the subordinating conjunction zonder dat.
Why is bent at the very end of the sentence?
Zonder dat is a subordinating conjunction, which means the clause that follows it is a subclause. In Dutch subclauses, the conjugated verb (here, bent) gets pushed to the very end.
Wegslepen is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up in this sentence?
Separable verbs only split when they act as the conjugated verb in a main clause. Here, the modal verb mag is the conjugated verb, which sends wegslepen to the end of the main clause in its full, unsplit infinitive form.
How does aanwezig (present) relate to other Dutch words?
It is built from aan (at) and wezen (an older verb for 'to be', still seen in the past participle geweest). The direct opposite is afwezig (absent).
If I wanted to use (since/seeing that) from this lesson, how could I apply it to this context?