Learn Hardcore Dutch: Als ik klaar ben met stofzuigen, zet ik de stofzuiger in de kast. - When I am done vacuuming, I put the vacuum cleaner in the cupboard.

It means "When I have finished vacuuming, I put the vacuum cleaner in the closet." The sentence describes a routine where after finishing the task of vacuuming, the speaker stores the vacuum cleaner away.

Why is the subordinate clause "Als ik klaar ben met stofzuigen" placed at the beginning of the sentence?

In Dutch, as in English, subordinate clauses that set the context—such as time or condition—can be positioned at the beginning of a sentence. When the subordinate clause comes first, it is separated from the main clause by a comma, which helps emphasize the condition (finishing vacuuming) under which the main action (putting away the vacuum cleaner) takes place.

What role does the word als play in this sentence?

Als is a subordinating conjunction in Dutch that typically means "when" (and can sometimes mean "if" depending on context). Here, it introduces the temporal clause that tells us when the action in the main clause happens.

Why is the preposition met used in the phrase "klaar ben met stofzuigen"?

In Dutch, when expressing that you are finished with an activity, you use the construction "klaar zijn met" (literally, "to be finished with"). The preposition met connects the state of being finished to the specific activity—vacuuming, in this case—much like saying "done with vacuuming" in English.

Why does the main clause "zet ik de stofzuiger in de kast" show the verb before the subject (i.e., "zet ik" rather than "ik zet")?

When a sentence begins with a subordinate clause or an adverbial phrase, Dutch often requires inversion of the usual subject-verb order in the main clause. This means the finite verb comes first, followed by the subject. Thus, after the introductory subordinate clause, we see "zet ik" instead of "ik zet", which is a standard construction in Dutch.