Breakdown of Hoe dan ook moet je de instructie volgen.
volgen
to follow
de instructie
the instruction (directions)
hoe dan ook
in any case / anyway
Questions & Answers about Hoe dan ook moet je de instructie volgen.
What does the phrase Hoe dan ook literally translate to?
It translates literally to "how then also", but it is a very common fixed expression meaning "in any case", "anyway", or "no matter what".
Does the word dan here work like the resumptive adverbs we just learned about?
Not exactly. In your current lesson, you learned how dan (then) can "resume" or refer back to a fronted als (if) clause. Here, dan is just a built-in part of the fixed idiom hoe dan ook. However, notice that this whole phrase takes up the first position in the sentence, just like a fronted clause would!
Why is it moet je instead of je moet?
Because the sentence starts with the adverbial phrase Hoe dan ook. In Dutch, whenever you start a main clause with something other than the subject, the verb must come in the second position. This causes the conjugated verb (moet) and the subject (je) to swap places, which is called inversion.
Why is the verb volgen all the way at the end?
Because moet is a modal verb (from moeten, meaning "must" or "have to"). In Dutch, the conjugated modal verb takes the second position in the sentence, and it pushes the main action verb (volgen) to the very end as an infinitive.
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