Omdat haar webcam niet werkt, belt Sofie in zonder beeld.

In Dutch, a clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction like omdat (because) is a subordinate clause, and in subordinate clauses the finite verb goes to the end.

• Main clause: Haar webcam werkt niet.
  (Subject – verb – rest)

• Subordinate clause: Omdat haar webcam niet werkt.
  (Conjunction – subject – other elements – verb at the end)

So omdat haar webcam niet werkt is the subordinate version of haar webcam werkt niet. The word order change is purely grammatical; the meaning of that part stays the same.

After a subordinate clause comes first, Dutch main clauses follow a verb-second (V2) rule:

1. First position: the entire subordinate clause (Omdat haar webcam niet werkt)
2. Second position: the finite verb of the main clause (belt)
3. Then: the subject and the rest (Sofie in zonder beeld)

So:

• Neutral main clause: Sofie belt in zonder beeld.
• With the subordinate clause first:
  Omdat haar webcam niet werkt, belt Sofie in zonder beeld.

If you said Omdat haar webcam niet werkt, Sofie belt in zonder beeld, that would sound wrong in Dutch, because the verb is no longer in the second position of the main clause.

Belt … in comes from the separable verb inbellen.

• bellen = to call (by phone)
• inbellen = to dial in / to join by phone or video call (e.g. to a meeting)

With separable verbs in a main clause, the prefix (in) normally goes to the end:

• Sofie belt in. = Sofie dials in.
• We bellen later terug. (from terugbellen) = We’ll call back later.

In subordinate clauses, the parts come back together at the end:

• Omdat Sofie zonder beeld inbelt.

So belt Sofie in is the normal main-clause word order of the separable verb inbellen.

Yes, both word orders in the main clause are possible:

• Omdat haar webcam niet werkt, belt Sofie in zonder beeld.
• Omdat haar webcam niet werkt, belt Sofie zonder beeld in.

With separable verbs, adverbials like zonder beeld (without video) can come before or after the separated prefix in. Both are accepted and common; the difference in emphasis is minimal in everyday speech.

Literally:

• zonder beeld = without picture / without image
• zonder video = without video
• zonder camera = without a camera

In the context of calls, zonder beeld is the most natural and idiomatic way to say “audio only / no video”. Dutch speakers will almost always say things like:

• Ik heb wel geluid maar geen beeld.
  (I have sound but no picture/video.)

Zonder video is understandable and not wrong, but sounds more technical or less idiomatic in casual speech. Zonder camera focuses more on the device than on the visible image.

Haar means her, and zijn means his.

Since the subject is Sofie, who is female, haar webcam (her webcam) is the correct possessive:

• haar webcam = Sofie’s webcam
• zijn webcam = his webcam (a man’s or boy’s webcam)

If the person’s gender is unknown or irrelevant, Dutch often defaults to zijn, but when you do know it is a woman, you normally use haar.

In omdat haar webcam niet werkt, the clause is subordinate, and the finite verb werkt comes at the end. Niet (not) comes before that finite verb:

• Haar webcam werkt niet. (main clause)
• Omdat haar webcam niet werkt. (subordinate clause)

General idea:

• In a neutral sentence, niet often comes near the end of the clause, but before the verb (if the verb is at the end) or before what it negates.
• You would not say:
  ✗ Omdat haar niet webcam werkt. (ungrammatical / wrong meaning)

So this is the standard and expected position of niet for “does not work” in a subordinate clause.

Yes, that’s possible, but with a slightly different nuance:

• Omdat haar webcam niet werkt = because her webcam does not work
  (It’s not functioning right now; could be a software issue, connection problem, etc.)
• Omdat haar webcam kapot is = because her webcam is broken
  (Implies it’s physically broken or at least seriously out of order.)

Both are grammatically correct; choose based on what you want to emphasize.

Dutch normally uses a comma to separate a subordinate clause from the main clause when the subordinate clause comes first:

• Omdat haar webcam niet werkt, belt Sofie in zonder beeld.

You can also reverse the order:

• Sofie belt in zonder beeld omdat haar webcam niet werkt.

In that second version, Dutch often omits the comma because the main clause comes first and the subordinate clause follows it directly. The comma is less “necessary” there, though you may still see it used for clarity or style.

Both can translate as because, but they behave differently:

• omdat introduces a subordinate clause:
  Sofie belt in zonder beeld, omdat haar webcam niet werkt.
  (Verb goes to the end: werkt)

• want introduces another main clause and does not change word order:
  Sofie belt in zonder beeld, want haar webcam werkt niet.
  (Normal main-clause order: webcam werkt niet)

So yes, you could say:

• Sofie belt in zonder beeld, want haar webcam werkt niet.

That is fully correct and very natural Dutch; it just uses a different connector and word order.

Webcam is a loanword in Dutch from English and is completely standard. Dutch uses it exactly like English:

• de webcam (common gender: de, not het)
• haar webcam, mijn webcam, deze webcam, etc.

There are more “Dutch-sounding” alternatives like webcamera, but in everyday language webcam is by far the most common form.

Dutch simple present often covers both:

• English simple present: “her webcam does not work”
• English present continuous: “her webcam is not working”

So:

• Haar webcam werkt niet.
  can mean “her webcam does not work” or “her webcam is not working (right now)”.

Similarly:

• Sofie belt in zonder beeld.
  can mean “Sofie dials in without video” or “Sofie is dialing in without video”.

Dutch does have a progressive construction (is aan het werken, is aan het bellen), but it’s used less often and usually to stress the ongoing nature of the action. Here, the simple present is the default, natural choice.

No, that’s incorrect word order for Dutch. After the initial subordinate clause, the main clause must still obey the verb-second rule:

Correct:

• Omdat haar webcam niet werkt, belt Sofie in zonder beeld.

Incorrect:

• ✗ Omdat haar webcam niet werkt, Sofie belt in zonder beeld.
  (The verb belt is not in second position of the main clause.)

So you must keep the verb (belt) immediately after the first big constituent (the entire omdat-clause).