Wij willen langer slapen omdat we moe zijn.

We want to sleep longer because we are tired.

Breakdown of Wij willen langer slapen omdat we moe zijn.

• zijn: to be
• wij: we
• willen: to want
• moe: tired
• omdat: because
• langer: longer
• slapen: to sleep

Questions & Answers about Wij willen langer slapen omdat we moe zijn.

Why do we use wij instead of we in this sentence?

In Dutch, wij and we both mean we, but wij is the stressed form. It places emphasis on the subject. You might see wij when the speaker wants to highlight who is doing the action. In regular speech where no particular emphasis is needed, we is often used instead.

Why is the word langer used here, and how is it different from lang?

In this sentence, langer is the comparative form of lang (meaning long). It literally translates to longer, referring to a longer duration of sleeping. If you just said lang (meaning long), it wouldn’t convey the idea that you want to sleep longer than usual.

Why do we use omdat to mean because instead of other words?

Dutch has two common words for because: omdat and want. The main difference is that omdat introduces a subordinate clause (so it changes the word order), while want does not change the word order. In this sentence, omdat creates a clause that shows why we want to sleep longer; hence, it introduces a subordinate clause with the verb at the end (...omdat we moe zijn).

What is the word order rule after omdat?

After omdat, the clause becomes a subordinate clause, which means the conjugated verb moves to the end. In this example:
• Subject: we
• Adjective: moe (tired)
• Conjugated verb: zijn (to be)
So we get omdat we moe zijn instead of a direct order like “wij zijn moe”.

Why is the verb zijn used instead of is?

The Dutch verb zijn conjugates differently depending on the subject. Wij or we (we) uses zijn:
• Ik ben
• Jij bent
• Hij/zij/het is
• Wij zijn
• Jullie zijn
• Zij zijn
So because the subject is we (we), the correct form is zijn.