Breakdown of De kameel zoekt schaduw als het heel warm is.
zijn
to be
heel
very
het
it
warm
warm
als
when
zoeken
to seek
de schaduw
the shade
de kameel
the camel
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Questions & Answers about De kameel zoekt schaduw als het heel warm is.
Why is there no article before schaduw?
In Dutch, nouns that are uncountable or referred to in a general sense often appear without an article. Here, schaduw (shade) is used in general (“shade in general”), so you drop de or een.
Why is als used for “when” here, rather than wanneer or toen?
Als introduces a condition or repeated situation (“whenever…/if…”). Since this sentence describes what happens whenever it’s very warm, als is appropriate. Wanneer can also mean “when” but is more formal and often used in questions or future contexts. Toen is reserved for past situations.
Why does the clause als het heel warm is have the verb is at the end?
Because als introduces a subordinate clause in Dutch, the finite verb moves to the end of that clause (subject–object–verb order). So you get als het heel warm is (“when/if it is very warm”).
Why is het used in als het heel warm is? What does it refer to?
Dutch uses the impersonal pronoun het to talk about weather or general conditions. There’s no noun for “weather,” so you simply say het is warm or het regent.
How is zoekt formed? It looks different from the infinitive zoeken.
Zoekt is the third person singular present tense of zoeken. To conjugate, drop -en from the infinitive and add -t for hij/zij/het: zoeken → zoekt.
Why is heel warm used instead of zeer warm or another intensifier?
Heel is the most common colloquial adverb for “very” before adjectives (e.g. heel warm, heel groot). Zeer also means “very” but sounds more formal or literary, and is less frequent in everyday speech.
Why does kameel take the article de? Are all animal names de words?
Dutch noun gender (common vs. neuter) is largely arbitrary. Kameel is a common-gender noun, so it takes de. Some animals are de, some are het, so you have to learn each noun with its article.
Can I start the sentence with als het heel warm is? How would the word order change?
Yes. If the subordinate clause comes first, you still end it with the verb last, and the main clause follows with normal word order:
Als het heel warm is, zoekt de kameel schaduw.