Learn Hardcore Dutch: Zijn bureaustoel is heel comfortabel, zodat hij lang kan typen. - His office chair is very comfortable, so that he can type for a long time.

If zijn is followed directly by a noun (bureaustoel, huis, auto), it’s almost always the possessive his.
If zijn comes after another verb in infinitive position (like wil zijn, zal zijn, moet zijn), it’s the verb to be.

Why is there no article before bureaustoel? Why not Zijn de bureaustoel or Zijn een bureaustoel?

In Dutch, a possessive pronoun replaces the article.

So you say:

de bureaustoel = the office chair
een bureaustoel = an office chair
zijn bureaustoel = his office chair (no de or een)

Similarly:

mijn huis (not mijn het huis)
haar auto (not haar een auto)

So Zijn bureaustoel is the correct structure: possessive + noun, without an extra article.

What gender is bureaustoel, and what is the plural?

Bureaustoel is a de-word (common gender).

Singular: de bureaustoel (the office chair)
Plural: de bureaustoelen (the office chairs)

Most words ending in -stoel (chair) are de-words:

de stoel, de tuinstoel, de bureaustoel

Why is bureaustoel written as one word in Dutch?

Dutch usually writes compound nouns as one word.

Here:

bureau = desk, office
stoel = chair
bureaustoel = an office/desk chair

So you write:

bureaustoel (one word), not bureau stoel
other examples: huisdeur (house door), keukentafel (kitchen table), tafelkleed (tablecloth)

If it’s one concept and functions as a single noun, Dutch tends to glue the parts together.

What does heel mean in heel comfortabel, and how is it different from erg or zeer?

In heel comfortabel, heel means very.

heel comfortabel = very comfortable
erg comfortabel = very / extremely comfortable
zeer comfortabel = very / highly comfortable (a bit more formal or written style)

Some notes:

heel can also mean whole/entire in other contexts, e.g. de hele dag = the whole day.
Before an adjective (like comfortabel), heel usually means very.

So Zijn bureaustoel is heel comfortabel = His office chair is very comfortable.

What exactly does zodat mean, and how is it different from omdat?

Zodat means so that or so (with a result/purpose idea).

In the sentence:

Zijn bureaustoel is heel comfortabel, zodat hij lang kan typen.
→ His office chair is very comfortable, so (that) he can type for a long time.

Use:

zodat introduces a result or intended consequence:
- Ik koop een goede bureaustoel, zodat ik geen rugpijn krijg.
  I buy a good office chair so that I don’t get back pain.
omdat introduces a reason (because):
- Ik koop een goede bureaustoel, omdat ik rugpijn heb.
  I buy a good office chair because I have back pain.

So:

omdat = because (reason/cause)
zodat = so that / so (result or purpose)

Why is there a comma before zodat?

The sentence has two clauses:

Zijn bureaustoel is heel comfortabel → main clause
zodat hij lang kan typen → subordinate clause introduced by zodat

In Dutch, when a sentence starts with a main clause and a conjunction like zodat, omdat, omdat, terwijl, omdat introduces a second clause, you normally separate them with a comma:

Hij is moe, omdat hij laat heeft gewerkt.
Ik zet de muziek zachter, zodat jij kunt slapen.

So the comma before zodat is standard and helps show the structure: main clause, then the result clause.

Why is the word order hij lang kan typen and not hij kan lang typen after zodat?

After zodat, you have a subordinate clause, and in Dutch subordinate clauses put the verbs at the end in a cluster.

Pattern:

zodat + subject + other info + verbs (auxiliary + main verb)

So:

zodat hij lang kan typen
- hij = subject
- lang = adverb (for a long time)
- kan typen = verb cluster at the end (modal + main verb)

You cannot say:

✗ zodat hij kan lang typen → wrong word order in a subordinate clause

In a main clause, you could say:

Hij kan lang typen. (Here kan is in the second position, as usual for main clauses.)

But after zodat, you must use the subordinate clause order, with the verbs at the end: lang kan typen.

What does lang mean here? Does it mean tall or long?

In this sentence, lang refers to time, so it means for a long time.

zodat hij lang kan typen = so that he can type for a long time

Lang can mean different things depending on context:

een lange man = a tall man
een lange tafel = a long table (physical length)
Ik kan niet lang wachten = I can’t wait for long (duration)

Here, with a verb of activity (typen), lang naturally means for a long time.

Could I move lang somewhere else, like zodat hij kan typen lang?

No, zodat hij kan typen lang is not natural Dutch.

In a subordinate clause like this, you want:

subject + adverbs/objects + verb cluster at the end.

So:

zodat hij lang kan typen → correct and natural
✗ zodat hij kan typen lang → sounds wrong
✗ zodat hij kan lang typen → also wrong (splits the verb cluster)

If you really want to stress lang, you might change intonation in speech, but the word order stays hij lang kan typen.

What is the difference between typen and schrijven?

typen = to type (on a keyboard, phone, typewriter)
schrijven = to write (with a pen/pencil or more generally to compose text)

In this sentence:

lang kan typen clearly suggests working at a keyboard (computer work, office work).

If you said:

zodat hij lang kan schrijven
it could mean writing by hand or writing in general (e.g. writing texts, essays), not specifically typing.

Why do we use kan typen (can type) here and not some continuous form like is typing?

Dutch does not normally use a continuous tense the way English does. The simple present often covers:

habitual actions:
- Hij werkt elke dag. = He works every day / He is working every day.
general ability:
- Hij kan lang typen. = He can type for a long time.

In zodat hij lang kan typen, kan expresses ability or possibility:

His chair is comfortable, so he is able to / so it’s possible for him to type for a long time.

There is a Dutch continuous form (is aan het typen), but that would describe what he is doing right now, not his general ability:

Hij is aan het typen. = He is typing (at this moment).
That doesn’t fit the meaning of this sentence.

Could we leave out heel and just say Zijn bureaustoel is comfortabel?

Yes, grammatically that’s fine:

Zijn bureaustoel is comfortabel, zodat hij lang kan typen.

The difference is nuance:

comfortabel = comfortable (neutral)
heel comfortabel = very comfortable (stronger)

With heel, you emphasize that the chair is especially or really comfortable, which makes the result (he can type for a long time) more plausible.

Is comfortabel the same as convenient in English? Can it also mean easy?

No, be careful here. Comfortabel in Dutch is mainly about physical comfort:

een comfortabele stoel = a comfortable chair
een comfortabel bed = a comfortable bed

If you want to say convenient or practical, you usually use:

handig (handy, convenient)
praktisch (practical)

So:

Zijn bureaustoel is heel comfortabel
→ focuses on physical comfort, not on convenience or practicality.

How do you pronounce tricky sounds in words like zijn, bureau, stoel, typen?

Key sounds in this sentence:

zijn
- z as in English zoo
- ij sounds roughly like the ei in height (a diphthong: somewhere between eye and ay)
  → approximately: zeyn
bureau
- bu- like bu in busy (short u sound)
- -reau similar to French bureau; Dutch often says something like ro with a bit of glide
  → bu-RO (stress on the second part)
stoel
- st as in English stay
- oe like oo in food
- l as in English
  → stool (very close to English stool)
typen
- ty like tee (short i sound, not like English type)
- pen like English pen
  → approximately: TEE-pen, with a short i sound in the first syllable.

So the full sentence, roughly in English sounds:
Zeyn bu-RO-stool is hayl kom-for-TA-bel, zo-dat hey LANG kan TEE-pen.