Breakdown of Toen ik thuiskwam, zag ik dat de keuken vol rommel lag.
Questions & Answers about Toen ik thuiskwam, zag ik dat de keuken vol rommel lag.
toen is a subordinating conjunction used for a single, completed event in the past (“when I arrived home”). It introduces a time clause. Key points:
- Use toen for specific past moments.
- It sends the finite verb to the end of its clause (here: thuiskwam).
- Contrast with wanneer, which appears in questions or for repeated/habitual events.
thuiskwam is the simple past of the separable verb thuiskomen (to come home) in a subordinate clause. Notice:
- Prefix thuis
- past stem kwam = thuiskwam (one word).
- In a main clause you separate them: ik kwam thuis.
- In subordinate clauses (after toen) you write the past tense of a separable verb together.
Because the sentence began with a subordinate time clause (Toen ik thuiskwam,), the following main clause undergoes subject–verb inversion. So you get:
verb first (zag), then subject (ik).
Because dat introduces a subordinate clause, Dutch word order requires the finite verb at the end. Structure here:
subject (de keuken) → predicate complement (vol rommel) → verb (lag).
vol means full of. When followed by a noun phrase, it indicates abundance of that noun.
Example: vol rommel = full of mess/junk.
Yes.
- dat de keuken rommelig was = that the kitchen was messy.
- vol rommel lag emphasizes physical clutter lying around, whereas rommelig gives a general quality.
As mess or junk, rommel is normally uncountable when referring to general clutter.
- rommel = (uncountable) clutter.
- een rommel would sound like “a worthless object” rather than “a mess.”
Yes. That order places the main clause first and the time clause at the end. You keep:
- lag at the end of the dat-clause.
- thuiskwam at the end of the toen-clause.
The emphasis shifts slightly to focus on seeing first rather than when.