Learn Hardcore Dutch: Anna las het dagboek niet, omdat het privé was. - Anna did not read the diary, because it was private.

Las is the simple past (preterite) form of the strong verb lezen (“to read”). In Dutch present tense you would say Anna leest…, but because the action happened in the past you use Anna las….

Why does the finite verb was appear at the end of the clause omdat het privé was?

Omdat is a subordinating conjunction. In Dutch subordinate clauses the conjugated verb moves to the very end. So instead of Subject–Verb–Object you get Subject–Object–Verb:
• main clause: Anna las het dagboek niet
• subordinate clause: omdat het privé was

Why is there a comma before omdat, and what changes if I remove it?

Placing a comma before omdat clearly separates the main clause from the reason clause.

With comma: Anna las het dagboek niet, omdat het privé was.
→ She did not read the diary, because it was private.
Without comma: Anna las het dagboek niet omdat het privé was.
→ She did read it, but not for the reason that it was private.
The comma prevents that ambiguity and shows that “niet” negates the entire main clause.

Could I use want instead of omdat? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:
Anna las het dagboek niet, want het was privé.
The difference:
• omdat introduces a subordinate clause (verb goes to the end).
• want is a coordinating conjunction (verb stays in second position, like in a normal main clause).

Why is het used before dagboek instead of de?

Dutch nouns are either common gender (de-words) or neuter (het-words). Dagboek is neuter, so its definite article is het. (If it were indefinite, you’d say een dagboek.)

Why is privé spelled with accents, and how do I pronounce it?

Privé is a French loanword, and the accent on the é shows both stress and vowel quality. You pronounce it roughly like pree-VAY. The accents are mandatory in Dutch to preserve that pronunciation.

Why is niet placed after het dagboek? Could it go somewhere else?

In Dutch main clauses, niet usually follows the direct object or other complements. Here you’re negating the entire action “read the diary,” so you place niet directly after het dagboek. If you said Anna las niet het dagboek, you would imply she read something else, but not the diary.

What if I start the sentence with the omdat clause?

Then you keep the verb-final rule in the subordinate clause and invert verb and subject in the main clause:
Omdat het privé was, las Anna het dagboek niet.
Notice:
• Subordinate clause still ends in was.
• Main clause starts with the verb las, then the subject Anna.