De polishouder is aansprakelijk voor de gevolgschade.

Polishouder means policyholder.

It is a Dutch compound noun:

• polis = insurance policy
• houder = holder

Dutch very often joins nouns into one word, where English might also sometimes do this, but less consistently. So polis + houder becomes polishouder.

A useful rule: in Dutch compounds, the last part usually determines the basic meaning and grammar of the whole word. So a polishouder is a kind of houder.

Because polishouder is a de-word.

In Dutch, singular nouns usually take either de or het:

• de polishouder
• not het polishouder

There is no deeper reason you can reliably guess from the English meaning alone; noun gender in Dutch often just has to be learned with the noun.

A useful habit is to learn new nouns with the article:

• de polishouder
• de polis
• de schade

Because aansprakelijk is used here as a predicative adjective: it comes after is.

After verbs like zijn (to be), Dutch adjectives normally do not take the -e ending:

• De polishouder is aansprakelijk.

But when the adjective comes before the noun, it usually does take -e:

• de aansprakelijke polishouder

So:

• is aansprakelijk = correct
• de aansprakelijke polishouder = also correct, but different structure

Not exactly.

Aansprakelijk usually means liable, especially in a legal or financial sense. It often suggests that someone can be held responsible for costs, damage, or consequences.

Verantwoordelijk is broader and often means responsible in a general sense:

• morally responsible
• officially in charge
• responsible for doing something

So in this sentence, aansprakelijk is the right word because the context is legal/insurance-related.

Compare:

• Hij is verantwoordelijk voor het team. = He is responsible for the team.
• Hij is aansprakelijk voor de schade. = He is liable for the damage.

Because aansprakelijk zijn voor is the normal fixed combination.

So you learn it as a chunk:

• aansprakelijk zijn voor = to be liable for

This is similar to how English uses fixed combinations such as responsible for or interested in. The preposition is not always something you can predict logically, so it is best memorized together with the adjective.

Examples:

• Hij is aansprakelijk voor de kosten.
• De fabrikant is aansprakelijk voor de schade.

Gevolgschade is another compound noun:

• gevolg = consequence/result
• schade = damage/loss

So gevolgschade means consequential damage or resulting damage: damage that happens as a consequence of something else.

Like polishouder, it is written as one word because Dutch normally writes compound nouns as single words.

The last part, schade, is the main noun, so gevolgschade is a type of schade.

Yes, both can be possible, depending on the meaning.

• voor de gevolgschade suggests a specific consequential damage, something already known from the context
• voor gevolgschade can sound more general, like consequential damage as a category

So:

• De polishouder is aansprakelijk voor de gevolgschade.
  = the policyholder is liable for the consequential damage
• De polishouder is aansprakelijk voor gevolgschade.
  = the policyholder is liable for consequential damage in general

In legal or insurance language, the version without the article is often common when speaking generally.

Because this is a simple main clause, and Dutch main clauses often look quite similar to English.

Structure:

• De polishouder = subject
• is = verb
• aansprakelijk = predicate adjective
• voor de gevolgschade = prepositional phrase

So the sentence pattern is basically: Subject + verb + complement + prepositional phrase

That is why it feels fairly straightforward.

In a subordinate clause, Dutch usually moves the finite verb toward the end.

Main clause:

• De polishouder is aansprakelijk voor de gevolgschade.

Subordinate clause:

• Ik weet dat de polishouder aansprakelijk is voor de gevolgschade.
• Als de polishouder aansprakelijk is voor de gevolgschade, ...

So this is a very useful contrast:

• main clause: is aansprakelijk
• subordinate clause: aansprakelijk is

A rough English-style guide:

• de → duh
• polishouder → roughly POH-lis-how-der
• is → iss
• aansprakelijk → roughly AHN-spraa-kuh-luk
• voor → roughly fohr or voor
• de gevolgschade → roughly duh guh-VOLKH-skhaa-duh

A few pronunciation notes:

• The g and ch sounds in Dutch are often throaty sounds that English does not really have.
• In gevolgschade, the stress falls on volg.
• In aansprakelijk, the stress is at the beginning: AAN...

You do not need perfect pronunciation right away; getting the stress in the right place helps a lot.