Als niemand tijd heeft om te vegen, kan ik het ook doen.

If no one has time to sweep, I can do it as well.

Breakdown of Als niemand tijd heeft om te vegen, kan ik het ook doen.

• ik: I
• ook: too
• hebben: to have
• het: it
• om: for
• kunnen: can
• als: if
• de tijd: the time
• doen: to do
• vegen: to sweep
• niemand: no one

Questions & Answers about Als niemand tijd heeft om te vegen, kan ik het ook doen.

What does the word als mean in this sentence?

Als is a conjunction that means "if". It introduces a conditional clause, expressing a condition that must be met.

How is the phrase om te vegen constructed, and what does it express?

The phrase om te vegen uses the om te + infinitive structure, which is common in Dutch to indicate purpose. Here, vegen means "to sweep", so the phrase expresses the action one is expected to perform.

Why does the second part of the sentence start with kan ik instead of ik kan?

When a sentence begins with a subordinate clause (in this case, starting with als), the main clause follows with the finite verb in the second position. This inversion is a feature of Dutch word order rules, so kan ik is correct rather than ik kan.

What does the pronoun het refer to in kan ik het ook doen?

Het is a neuter pronoun that refers back to the task mentioned in the sentence—in this context, the action of sweeping. It stands in for the chore described earlier in the subordinate clause.

How is the verb placement structured in the subordinate clause Als niemand tijd heeft om te vegen?

In Dutch subordinate clauses introduced by words like als, the typical word order is subject–object–verb (SOV). In this sentence, niemand is the subject, tijd is the object, and heeft is the conjugated verb. The purpose clause om te vegen follows the finite verb, which complements the meaning without interrupting the subordinate clause’s overall order.