Zij drinkt water, want zij is heel dorstig.

to be

Breakdown of Zij drinkt water, want zij is heel dorstig.

• zij: she
• drinken: to drink
• het water: the water
• heel: very
• want: because
• dorstig: thirsty

Questions & Answers about Zij drinkt water, want zij is heel dorstig.

Why does the sentence use zij instead of ze?

In Dutch, zij and ze both mean she, but zij is slightly more emphatic. You will often hear ze in spoken or less formal contexts, whereas zij can put more focus on the subject or can appear in more formal spoken or written language. In this sentence, using zij simply stresses that she is the one drinking the water.

What does want mean, and why is it used instead of omdat?

Want is a coordinating conjunction used to give a reason in a direct way—similar to for or because in English. Omdat is a subordinating conjunction, which would change the sentence structure by introducing a subordinate clause (and usually requiring a different word order). With want, the sentence construction flows more like two main clauses joined together.

Is zij always singular, or can it also mean "they"?

Zij can indeed mean both she (singular) and they (plural). In this sentence, it clearly refers to a single person. You can usually tell whether zij is singular or plural from context clues. If the verb is drinkt (uses the -t ending), then it’s singular; if the verb was drinken, it would be plural.

What's the function of heel here?

Heel is used as an intensifier meaning very. It modifies dorstig, which means thirsty. So heel dorstig translates to very thirsty, indicating a strong degree of thirst.

Why is dorstig used here instead of another form?

Dorstig is the adjective form of the noun dorst (thirst). In Dutch, you often describe a condition with an adjective. If you wanted to say you “are thirsty,” you typically say ik heb dorst (literally “I have thirst”), but to describe the quality of being thirsty, you use the adjective dorstig—especially in combination with intensifiers like heel.