Learn Hardcore Dutch: Het brandalarm blijft stil, zolang het gereedschap niet vonkt. - The fire alarm stays silent as long as the tools don’t spark.

Blijft is the third-person singular present of blijven (‘to stay/remain’) and stil means ‘quiet’ or ‘silent.’ So blijft stil literally means “remains silent” or “stays quiet.”

How does blijven work with adjectives like stil?

In Dutch, certain verbs (including blijven, worden, blijven, lijken) act like linking verbs and pair directly with adjectives. The structure is:
• subject + blijven + adjective
• e.g. Het alarm blijft stil. (“The alarm remains silent.”)
You don’t need an extra verb like “to be.”

What does zolang mean and how is it different from totdat?

Zolang means “as long as” and expresses a condition that lasts for the entire time the condition is true.
• Zolang het gereedschap niet vonkt, blijft het alarm stil.
“As long as the tool does not spark, the alarm remains silent.”
By contrast, totdat means “until” and points to the moment when something changes:
• Het alarm blijft stil totdat het gereedschap vonkt.
“The alarm stays silent until the tool sparks.”

Why is there a comma before zolang?

In Dutch, when a subordinate clause (like one introduced by zolang) follows the main clause, you usually separate it with a comma. The comma signals you’re moving from the main clause to a condition or time clause.

Why is vonkt placed at the end of the clause?

Dutch subordinate clauses follow the verb-final rule: all finite verbs go to the end. In zolang het gereedschap niet vonkt, vonkt (the verb) sits at the very end of that clause.

Why is gereedschap used with het and not in the plural?

Gereedschap is a collective (uncountable) noun meaning “tools” or “equipment” in general. You treat it as a singular, neuter noun: het gereedschap. If you wanted to talk about individual tools you could say gereedschappen (plural), but for the generic sense we use the singular collective.

Why is it niet vonkt instead of geen vonken?

Here vonkt is a verb (third-person singular of vonken, “to spark”). You negate verbs with niet. You would use geen to negate a noun or countable thing:
• Niet vonkt → “does not spark”
• Geen vonken → “no sparks” (but this changes the structure and emphasis)

Is brandalarm one word and why is it neuter?

Yes, Dutch compounds are typically written as one word. In Dutch, the gender of a compound is determined by its head (the last part). Alarm is neuter (het alarm), so brandalarm is also neuter: het brandalarm.