Learn Hardcore Dutch: Het stopcontact werkt niet tijdens het zware onweer. - The outlet does not work during the heavy thunderstorm.

Dutch nouns are either common (using de) or neuter (using het). stopcontact is a neuter noun, so it takes het. There isn’t a simple rule to predict gender, so it’s often a matter of memorization or checking a dictionary.

How do I know the verb werken becomes werkt here?

In the present tense, third-person singular subjects (he/she/it) add -t to the verb stem. The infinitive is werken (to work). Since het stopcontact is “it,” you conjugate as het stopcontact werkt.

What does tijdens mean, and when do I use it?

tijdens means “during.” It’s a preposition that introduces a time phrase. You use it exactly like English “during”: tijdens het zware onweer = “during the heavy thunderstorm.”

Why is the adjective zware inflected with -e instead of just zwaar?

When an adjective comes before a noun with a definite article (de/het), it takes an -e ending: het zware onweer (not het zwaar onweer). If you omit the article, you drop the -e: e.g., tijdens zwaar onweer.

Why is niet placed before the phrase tijdens het zware onweer rather than at the very end?

In Dutch the negation niet typically follows the verb (and any direct object) but precedes adverbial phrases of time, place, etc. Here you negate the action (“it doesn’t work”) and then state when that happens: werkt niet + tijdens het zware onweer.

If I start the sentence with tijdens het zware onweer, do I need to change the word order?

Yes. Dutch is a V2 (verb-second) language. When an adverbial phrase comes first, the finite verb must follow immediately, then the subject. So you’d say:
“Tijdens het zware onweer werkt het stopcontact niet.”

Why isn’t onweer capitalized, unlike German nouns?

Dutch only capitalizes the first word of a sentence, proper nouns, and certain fixed expressions. Common nouns like onweer remain lowercase.