Learn Hardcore Dutch: De professor zegt dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is, maar dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen. - The professor says that her thesis is almost finished, but that she still has to add one paragraph.

In Dutch, de professor itself does not have a fixed grammatical gender that forces you to use haar or zijn. It’s a common‑gender noun (like most professions), and the pronoun is chosen based on the actual person.

haar scriptie = her thesis → the professor is a woman.
zijn scriptie = his thesis → the professor is a man.

So the sentence is talking about a female professor. If you changed it to a male professor, the sentence would become:

De professor zegt dat zijn scriptie bijna klaar is, maar dat hij nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen.

Why is the verb at the end in …dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is and …dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen?

Dutch moves the finite verb to the end of subordinate clauses (clauses introduced by words like dat, omdat, als, wanneer, etc.).

Main clause: Haar scriptie is bijna klaar.
Subordinate clause with dat: dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is.

Similarly:

Main clause: Ze moet nog één paragraaf toevoegen.
Subordinate clause with dat: dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen.

In both subordinate clauses:

Subject comes first (haar scriptie, ze),
Then adverbs/objects (bijna, nog één paragraaf),
The verb (or verb group) goes to the end (is, moet toevoegen).

Why is dat repeated: …dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is, maar dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen? Could you leave out the second dat?

In Dutch, repeating dat after maar is very natural here, because you’re introducing a new subordinate clause that also depends on zegt.

Structure:

De professor zegt [dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is], maar [dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen].

You can omit the second dat in informal speech:

…dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is, maar ze moet nog één paragraaf toevoegen.

But then the second part (ze moet nog één paragraaf toevoegen) becomes a main clause, not a subordinate clause. It slightly changes the rhythm and structure of the sentence. The original sentence keeps both parts parallel as reported speech introduced by zegt.

What is the difference between één and een in Dutch?

één (with an accent) = one, the number, with emphasis on exactly one / a single.
- Ze moet nog één paragraaf toevoegen.
  → She still has to add one (single) paragraph.
een (without accent) = a / an, the indefinite article.
- Ze moet nog een paragraaf toevoegen.
  → She still has to add a paragraph (not stressing that it’s just one).

In speech, the difference is usually clear from context and stress; in writing, the accent één marks the numeral.

What does nog do in ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen?

Nog here means still / yet / in addition. It indicates that something is not finished completely; there remains something to do.

Ze moet nog één paragraaf toevoegen.
→ She still has to add one paragraph / She has one more paragraph to add.

If you leave out nog:

Ze moet één paragraaf toevoegen.
Now it just states the task: she must add one paragraph, without the nuance that it’s the remaining task before being finished.

Why is it bijna klaar is instead of is bijna klaar?

Both word orders are possible in Dutch, but their use depends on clause type:

Main clause (verb in second position):
- Haar scriptie is bijna klaar.
Subordinate clause with dat (verb at the end):
- …dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is.

So bijna klaar is is required here because we are inside a dat‑clause; the verb is goes to the end. The adverb bijna (almost) stays before the adjective klaar (ready/finished).

What’s the nuance of bijna klaar? Is it the same as just “almost finished”?

Yes, bijna klaar means almost ready / almost finished.

Haar scriptie is klaar. → Her thesis is ready/finished.
Haar scriptie is bijna klaar. → Her thesis is almost ready; there is a little bit left to do.

You will also often hear:

bijna af = almost done/finished
(helemaal) klaar or (helemaal) af = completely finished

What exactly does scriptie mean? Is it a thesis, an essay, or something else?

Scriptie is usually a substantial academic paper, typically:

a bachelor’s thesis or master’s thesis, or
a significant research paper at the end of a course or program.

It’s more serious and longer than a normal essay (opstel, essay). In English, it’s often best translated as thesis or dissertation, depending on the context:

haar scriptie → her thesis / her dissertation

Why is it moet toevoegen and not just toevoegt? How does this verb combination work?

There are two things going on:

Modal verb + infinitive
- moet = must / has to (modal verb)
- toevoegen = to add
With a modal verb, the main verb stays in the infinitive:
- Ze moet toevoegen. → She must add.
Subordinate clause word order In a dat‑clause, both verbs go to the end as a verb cluster:
- Main clause: Ze moet nog één paragraaf toevoegen.
- Subordinate clause: …dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen.

So moet toevoegen is the correct modal + infinitive combination, placed at the end because of the dat.

Is toevoegen a separable verb? If so, what would it look like in a normal main clause?

Yes, toevoegen is a separable verb: toe (prefix) + voegen (to join/add).

In a simple main clause in the present tense, it separates:

Ze voegt nog één paragraaf toe.
(verb voegt in second position; separable prefix toe goes to the end)

With a modal verb or in the infinitive, it stays together as toevoegen:

Ze moet nog één paragraaf toevoegen.
Hij wil een voorbeeld toevoegen.
Ze probeert nog een conclusie toe te voegen.

Why is it ze and not zij in maar dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen?

Ze and zij are both forms of she (or they) in Dutch.

zij is the stressed form, used when you want to emphasize the subject:
- Zíj moet nog één paragraaf toevoegen, niet hij.
ze is the unstressed, neutral form, most common in the middle of a sentence:
- …maar dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen.

Here, there is no special emphasis on she, so the unstressed ze is more natural.

Could the sentence be in the past tense, and what would change?

Yes, you can put the reporting verb zegt in the past tense, and often the verb in the dat‑clause also shifts to the past.

Present (original):

De professor zegt dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is, maar dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen.

More typical past reporting:

De professor zei dat haar scriptie bijna klaar was, maar dat ze nog één paragraaf moest toevoegen.

Changes:

zegt → zei (says → said)
is → was
moet → moest

Dutch is fairly flexible with sequence of tenses, but this is the most natural past-reporting version.

Does Dutch really need the comma before maar, like in …klaar is, maar dat…?

In Dutch, it is standard and recommended to put a comma before maar when it connects two clauses, especially longer ones:

…dat haar scriptie bijna klaar is, maar dat ze nog één paragraaf moet toevoegen.

The comma helps readability and shows that a new clause (contrast) is starting. In very short clauses it’s sometimes omitted in informal writing, but in a sentence like this, the comma is normal and correct.