Breakdown of De trein rijdt gemiddeld honderd kilometer per uur, waardoor we snel aankomen.
wij
we
snel
quickly
het uur
the hour
per
per
de trein
the train
gemiddeld
on average
honderd
one hundred
de kilometer
the kilometre
aankomen
to arrive
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Questions & Answers about De trein rijdt gemiddeld honderd kilometer per uur, waardoor we snel aankomen.
What does rijdt mean and why is it used here?
rijdt is the third-person singular present tense of the verb rijden (to drive/ride). It agrees with the singular subject de trein.
Why is gemiddeld placed between rijdt and honderd?
In a Dutch main clause, the finite verb comes second, then sentence adverbs like gemiddeld, followed by objects or complements. That’s why it’s rijdt gemiddeld honderd kilometer per uur.
Why is it honderd kilometer per uur and not honderden kilometers per uur?
Unit names like kilometer stay singular after numbers in Dutch. Also per uur is the fixed expression for “per hour.”
What role does waardoor play in this sentence?
waardoor is a relative adverb or subordinating conjunction meaning “as a result of which/so that.” It introduces a subordinate clause expressing the consequence.
Why is there a comma before waardoor?
It separates the main clause from the subordinate result clause. In writing, using a comma before subordinates like waardoor improves clarity.
Why is the verb at the end in waardoor we snel aankomen?
Subordinate clauses in Dutch use the verb-final word order. So after waardoor (the subordinator), the subject we comes, then other elements (snel), and the verb aankomen goes last.
Why is it aankomen and not komen aan here?
aankomen is a separable verb (aan + komen). In subordinate clauses it stays together at the end.
Can I use dus instead of waardoor, and what changes?
You could say …, dus we komen snel aan. But dus is a coordinating conjunction, not a relative adverb. It links clauses more neutrally without the verb-final order and doesn’t require a subordinating comma-structure.
Why is the pronoun we used instead of wij?
we is the unstressed colloquial subject pronoun for “we.” wij is the stressed or formal form, used for emphasis or in formal contexts.
Where does snel go in the subordinate clause, and could it appear elsewhere?
In waardoor-clauses, adverbs of manner like snel typically come before the verb. Moving it elsewhere (e.g., waardoor we aankomen snel) would sound awkward.