Het regent hard; de tiener wil echter nog steeds zonder regenjas naar buiten gaan.

It is raining hard; however, the teenager still wants to go outside without a raincoat.

Breakdown of Het regent hard; de tiener wil echter nog steeds zonder regenjas naar buiten gaan.

• gaan: to go
• naar: to
• het: it
• willen: to want

Questions & Answers about Het regent hard; de tiener wil echter nog steeds zonder regenjas naar buiten gaan.

Why is het used in Het regent hard even though there is no noun preceding it?

In Dutch weather expressions, het acts as a dummy subject (an impersonal pronoun) just like it’s in English it’s raining. You always say het regent, het sneeuwt, etc., even though het doesn’t refer to any specific thing.

What part of speech is echter, and why is it placed after the verb in de tiener wil echter?

Echter is a conjunctive adverb meaning however. In Dutch main clauses, adverbs of this type normally follow the finite verb, so you get Subject – Finite Verb – echter – rest of clause.

Why is nog steeds used here, and how does it differ from just nog or steeds?

Nog steeds literally means still (continuing up to now).

• Nog alone can sometimes mean still, but is more ambiguous.
• Steeds means always or continually without the nuance of up to now.
  Using nog steeds emphasizes that the behaviour truly persists despite the rain.

In zonder regenjas naar buiten gaan, why is there no article before ?