Breakdown of Dat is het huis waarin ik woon.
ik
I
zijn
to be
het huis
the house
wonen
to live
dat
that
waarin
in which
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Questions & Answers about Dat is het huis waarin ik woon.
What is the function of waarin in this sentence?
Waardin is a relative pronoun formed from waar (“where”) + in, meaning “in which.” It refers back to huis and introduces the subordinate clause waarin ik woon (“in which I live”).
Can I say Dat is het huis waar ik in woon instead of using waarin?
Yes. Splitting the relative pronoun is very common in spoken Dutch. You say Dat is het huis waar ik in woon, putting in after the verb. Both versions mean the same, but waarin is more concise and somewhat more formal.
Why does woon appear at the end of the clause?
In Dutch subordinate clauses, the finite verb moves to the very end. Here the clause is waarin ik woon: ik (subject) follows waarin, and woon (verb) closes the clause.
Why use Dat is rather than Dit is het huis waarin ik woon?
Dat (“that”) is neutral and refers to something a bit farther away or already mentioned. Dit (“this”) points to something very close or immediate. You could say Dit is het huis waarin ik woon if you were standing right in front of it, but Dat is is the default when merely identifying or talking about it.
English allows “That’s the house I live in” without a relative word. Can you drop waarin or waar…in in Dutch?
No. Unlike English, Dutch requires a relative pronoun to link the noun to the clause. Saying Dat is het huis ik woon (with or without moving in to the end) is ungrammatical.
Could you say Dat is het huis in dat ik woon?
No. If you split the pronoun, you must use waar, not dat. The only options are waarin or waar ik in woon.
Why is the preposition in necessary with wonen?
In Dutch, wonen typically requires the preposition in to indicate location (e.g. wonen in een huis). English “to live” can stand alone, but Dutch uses wonen in to show where someone lives.
Why does huis take het instead of de?
Dutch nouns are either common gender (taking de) or neuter (taking het). Huis is neuter, so it requires the definite article het.