Questions & Answers about Als het hagelt, blijven wij thuis.
In Dutch, any clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction (here als) is a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses are verb-final. That means the conjugated verb moves to the very end. The structure is:
- Als (subordinator)
- het (subject)
- hagelt (finite verb, placed last)
This is different from English, where we keep S-V-O order in subordinate clauses.
Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule: the finite verb must be the second element. When a subordinate clause or another element (like an adverbial) precedes the main clause, that entire chunk counts as the first element, so the verb moves to position two, and the subject follows.
Here:
1st element → the whole subordinate clause (Als het hagelt)
2nd element → blijven (finite verb)
3rd element → wij (subject)
4th element → thuis (adverb)
- Als is used for conditional clauses (“if it hails, …”) or for repeated/habitual situations.
- Wanneer is used for time-questions (“when did it hail?”) or specific time points in the past/future.
Since our sentence expresses a general condition (“if/whenever it hails”), als is the correct choice.
Yes. Both wij and we mean “we,” but:
- we is the common, informal form in speech.
- wij is slightly more emphatic or used for emphasis and in more formal writing.
Either works here: Als het hagelt, blijven we thuis.