Word
Voordat de baas vertrekt, fungeert hij als adviseur.
Meaning
Before the boss leaves, he functions as an advisor.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Voordat de baas vertrekt, fungeert hij als adviseur.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
de baas
the boss
vertrekken
to leave / to depart
als
as (like / conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Voordat de baas vertrekt, fungeert hij als adviseur.
Why is it als adviseur and not zoals adviseur here?
The word als is used here because it indicates the actual role or capacity the boss is taking on. He is literally acting in the position of an advisor. If you used zoals, it would mean similar to an advisor or in the manner of an advisor, implying he isn't actually one, but just acting like one.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb fungeert rather than hij fungeert?
This is a classic example of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire first clause, Voordat de baas vertrekt, acts as the first grammatical building block of the main sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, the verb fungeert must swap places with the subject hij.
Why is there no article before adviseur? Shouldn't it be als een adviseur?
In Dutch, you generally drop the indefinite article een when stating someone's profession, role, or title. Since adviseur is the official role he is fulfilling, the article is left out.
Could I use werkt instead of fungeert in this sentence?
Yes, but there is a slight difference in nuance. Fungeert als translates to functions as or serves as, which often implies a temporary, unofficial, or secondary role. Werkt als simply means works as, which sounds more like a standard, permanent job description.