Breakdown of Mijn fiets staat in de garage, want het regent buiten.
in
in
staan
to stand
want
because
het
it
mijn
my
buiten
outside
regenen
to rain
de fiets
the bicycle
de garage
the garage
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Questions & Answers about Mijn fiets staat in de garage, want het regent buiten.
Why is staan used here with mijn fiets instead of liggen?
In Dutch you choose staan for things that are upright or on their wheels (like a bike), and liggen for things lying flat. So you say mijn fiets staat because a bicycle “stands” on its wheels.
Why is the preposition in used in in de garage and not op de garage?
Use in for enclosed spaces. A garage is considered an enclosed space, so your bike “stands in the garage.” You’d use op for surfaces like “op de tafel” (on the table).
What is the function of want in this sentence?
want is a coordinating conjunction meaning “because.” It links two main clauses without changing their word order.
Could you use omdat instead of want, and what would change?
Yes. If you swap in omdat (a subordinating conjunction), the verb in the second clause moves to the end.
Example:
• Original: Mijn fiets staat in de garage, want het regent buiten.
• With omdat: Mijn fiets staat in de garage omdat het buiten regent.
Why is there a comma before want?
In Dutch a comma before coordinating conjunctions like en, maar, want is optional but common in written language to signal the pause between clauses.
Why doesn’t want trigger inversion of het regent into regent het?
Because want is coordinating, not subordinating. Coordinating conjunctions leave both clauses in normal subject–verb order (SVO).
Why is het used before regent when talking about the weather?
Dutch requires a subject even for weather verbs. The impersonal pronoun het is always used for weather expressions like het regent, het sneeuwt, etc.
Why is buiten placed at the end of the sentence?
buiten is an adverb of place. In Dutch main clauses the typical order is Subject–Verb–Object–Adverbials. So het regent (SV) comes first, then the place adverb buiten.
Could you front buiten and say Buiten regent het?
Yes. If you start with buiten (place first), you trigger inversion: the word order becomes Buiten regent het (Adverb–Verb–Subject).
Why is it de garage (definite) and not een garage?
Using de indicates a specific, known garage (probably your own). een garage would introduce it as a non-specific garage (“a garage” in general).