Als we te laat thuiskomen, moeten we naar de winkel fietsen om snel brood te halen.

Because als introduces a subordinate clause, and in Dutch subordinate clauses usually send the conjugated verb to the end.

So:

Als we te laat thuiskomen

has the verb at the end of that clause.

In a main clause, you would normally get:

We komen te laat thuis.

That is one of the biggest word-order differences between Dutch and English.

It looks like an infinitive, but here it is also the present-tense plural form.

For regular Dutch verbs, the we / jullie / zij present tense is usually the same as the infinitive:

• komen = to come
• we komen = we come

So:

• thuiskomen = to come home
• we thuiskomen is not used by itself, but in a subordinate clause you can get als we thuiskomen

That is why it looks unchanged.

Because Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second rule.

The whole subordinate clause Als we te laat thuiskomen takes the first position in the sentence. After that, the finite verb of the main clause must come next:

Als we te laat thuiskomen, moeten we ...

So the order becomes:

1. subordinate clause
2. finite verb
3. subject

This is called inversion. It is very common in Dutch.

Te laat means too late.

• laat = late
• te laat = too late

So te before an adjective or adverb often means too:

• te duur = too expensive
• te vroeg = too early
• te laat = too late

They are related, but not the same.

• thuiskomen = to arrive home, to get home
• naar huis gaan = to go home, to head home

In this sentence, the idea is about the moment of arriving home late, so thuiskomen is the natural choice.

Because naar is the preposition used for movement toward a destination.

• naar de winkel = to the shop/store
• in de winkel = in the shop/store
• bij de winkel = near the shop/store

Since the sentence is about going there by bike, naar is needed.

Yes. Dutch often uses the travel verb itself, where English might use go by....

So Dutch naturally says:

• We fietsen naar de winkel. = We cycle to the store.
• We lopen naar school. = We walk to school.
• We rijden naar huis. = We drive home.

You do not need an extra verb like gaan here.

This is a very common Dutch structure for expressing purpose: om + te + infinitive.

Here it means something like in order to get or simply to get.

So:

om snel brood te halen
= to quickly get bread
= in order to get bread quickly

A similar example:

Ik ga naar buiten om frisse lucht te krijgen.
= I’m going outside to get some fresh air.

Halen is a very common Dutch verb with a broad meaning. In this kind of sentence, it often means go and get, pick up, or buy and bring back.

So brood halen often means something like:

• go get bread
• go buy bread

It does not have to mean only physically picking something up. In everyday Dutch, it is often used for going somewhere to obtain something.

Because brood is being used as a mass noun, like bread in English.

So:

• brood = bread in general
• een brood = a loaf of bread

In this sentence, the speaker just means bread in a general sense, not necessarily one specific loaf.

Compare:

• We moeten brood halen. = We need to get bread.
• We moeten een brood halen. = We need to get a loaf of bread.

Because Dutch adverbs often come before the object when they describe the action in a neutral way.

So:

om snel brood te halen

is a natural word order for to get bread quickly.

You might also hear other word orders in speech, but this one is very normal and idiomatic.

It can mean either, depending on context.

• Ik moet gaan. = I must go / I have to go
• We moeten naar de winkel fietsen. = We must / have to cycle to the store

In this sentence, English usually sounds more natural with have to.

So moeten expresses necessity or obligation.