Learn Hardcore Dutch: Ondanks de vertraging zijn we veilig thuis aangekomen en gingen we meteen eten, want het was al etenstijd. - Despite the delay we arrived home safely and ate right away, because it was already mealtime.

Ondanks means “despite” or “in spite of.” It is a preposition, not a conjunction, so you always use it directly before a noun phrase (here de vertraging = “the delay”). It introduces an adverbial phrase modifying the rest of the sentence.

Why does the verb zijn appear immediately after Ondanks de vertraging?

Dutch follows the V2 (verb-second) rule in main clauses. When you start a sentence with something other than the subject (here the adverbial Ondanks de vertraging), the finite verb (zijn) must come in second position, before the subject (we).

Why is aankomen used with zijn aangekomen instead of hebben aangekomen?

Verbs that express motion (“komen,” “gaan,” etc.) or a change of state often form their perfect tense with zijn as auxiliary, not hebben. So aankomen (to arrive) becomes zijn aangekomen (“have arrived”).

Why is thuis not preceded by an article, and is it a noun or an adverb here?

In this sentence, thuis functions as an adverb of place meaning “at home,” not as a noun. Adverbs don’t take articles, so you simply say thuis rather than het huis or similar.

In veilig thuis aangekomen, why is veilig placed before thuis?

Dutch adverbial phrases usually follow a manner–place–time order:

manner (how?): veilig (“safely”)
place (where?): thuis (“at home”)
time (when?): (not explicitly here)
So “safely at home arrived” becomes veilig thuis aangekomen.

What nuance does gingen we meteen eten add, and what does gaan + infinitive express?

The construction gaan + infinitive can mean:
• an action that immediately follows (“we went on to eat”),
• or a near-future plan (“we were going to eat”).
Here, gingen we meteen eten = “we went straight to eating” / “we immediately started eating.”

Why is there no te before eten in gingen we meteen eten?

With verbs like gaan, komen, blijven, modal auxiliaries (kunnen, moeten, etc.), and perception verbs, Dutch uses the bare infinitive (no te). So you say gaan eten, not gaan te eten.

In en gingen we meteen eten, why does the verb gingen come before the subject we?

En is a coordinating conjunction that doesn’t count as taking the first position in a clause. Therefore, the first “real” slot is filled by the finite verb (gingen), and the subject (we) follows—creating a verb–subject inversion.

Why use want instead of omdat, and how does want affect word order?

Want is a coordinating conjunction meaning “because/for.” It connects two main clauses without sending the verb to the end. In contrast, omdat is a subordinating conjunction and does push the verb to the end of its clause. With want, you keep normal word order: subject–verb.

Why is etenstijd written as one word, and why is there a het in het was al etenstijd?

Etenstijd is a compound noun (“meal time”), and Dutch typically writes compounds as a single word.
Dutch often needs a dummy subject in sentences like “It is X time.” Here het functions like English “it” in “It was already mealtime.” Without het, the sentence would feel incomplete.