Learn Hardcore Dutch: Met haar eerste salaris koopt zij een betere stoel, zodat haar rug rechtop kan blijven. - With her first salary she buys a better chair so that her back can stay upright.

Neutral/basic order:
- Zij koopt met haar eerste salaris een betere stoel.
  (She buys a better chair with her first salary.)
Fronted prepositional phrase:
- Met haar eerste salaris koopt zij een betere stoel.
  (With her first salary she buys a better chair.)

When you put something other than the subject in first position (here: Met haar eerste salaris), Dutch grammar requires that the finite verb (koopt) comes next, and the subject (zij) comes immediately after that:

First position: Met haar eerste salaris
Verb: koopt
Subject: zij
Rest: een betere stoel, zodat haar rug rechtop kan blijven.

This is called inversion (verb–subject instead of subject–verb) and it’s completely normal in Dutch main clauses when something is placed in front of the verb for emphasis or flow.

Why is it koopt zij and not zij koopt here?

Because Met haar eerste salaris has been moved to the beginning of the sentence, Dutch word order rules say:

The conjugated verb must be in second position.
The subject comes directly after the conjugated verb.

So we get:

Met haar eerste salaris (1st position)
koopt (2nd position – the finite verb)
zij (subject, immediately after the verb)

If you start with the subject instead, you use zij koopt:

Zij koopt met haar eerste salaris een betere stoel, zodat haar rug rechtop kan blijven.

Both are correct; the difference is just which part of the sentence you want to highlight or how it flows.

When should I use zij and when ze?

Both zij and ze mean she (singular) or they (plural), depending on context, but they differ in emphasis and in position.

zij (stressed form):
- Used when you want to emphasize who is doing something.
  - Zij koopt een betere stoel. (She buys a better chair. — not someone else)
- Very common in written Dutch, especially when the subject appears after the verb (like koopt zij).
ze (unstressed form):
- Used in neutral/no-emphasis contexts.
  - Ze koopt een betere stoel.
- Much more common in spoken Dutch, especially in normal subject–verb order.

In your sentence, koopt zij is a slightly more formal or written style. In everyday speech, many people would say:

Met haar eerste salaris koopt ze een betere stoel...

Why is it met haar eerste salaris and not van haar eerste salaris?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

Met haar eerste salaris koopt zij...
- Literally: With her first salary she buys...
- Focuses on the salary as the means or resource she uses to buy the chair.
- Sounds very natural and idiomatic in this context.
Van haar eerste salaris koopt zij...
- Literally: From her first salary she buys...
- Emphasizes more that the money comes out of that first salary.
- Also correct and quite common; it can sound slightly more concrete about the money coming out of that specific paycheck.

In everyday usage, both met and van work here, and the difference is subtle. Learners can safely use either; met haar eerste salaris might feel a bit more idiomatic in this kind of sentence.

Why is there no article before eerste salaris? Shouldn’t it be haar het eerste salaris?

In Dutch, when a noun is preceded by a possessive pronoun (mijn, jouw, zijn, haar, ons, hun, jullie), you normally don’t use an article:

haar salaris (her salary), not het haar salaris
mijn huis (my house), not het mijn huis
ons eerste kind (our first child), not het ons eerste kind

So:

haar eerste salaris = her first salary

Even though salaris is a het-word (het salaris), the het is dropped because of the possessive haar.

What is the role of eerste here, and why is it before salaris?

Eerste is an ordinal number (like first, second, third in English) used as an adjective. In Dutch, adjectives usually go before the noun:

eerste salaris = first salary
tweede poging = second attempt
derde dag = third day

Combined with a possessive, you get:

haar eerste salaris (her first salary)

So the order is: possessive → ordinal adjective → noun (haar eerste salaris).

How does the comparative betere work in een betere stoel?

Beter is the comparative form of goed (good → better). As an adjective in front of a de-word or indefinite noun with een, you add -e:

een goede stoel = a good chair
een betere stoel = a better chair

Basic pattern:

goed → beter (comparative stem)
Attributive form (before a noun) with een: add -e → betere

Some examples:

een beter idee → een beter idee (no -e because idee is a het-word after een and the adjective is indefinite)
de betere stoel (here you add -e because of de)
een betere stoel (unknown specific chair: still betere because stoel is a de-word)

Why is there a comma before zodat?

The comma marks the beginning of a subordinate clause introduced by zodat:

Main clause: Met haar eerste salaris koopt zij een betere stoel
Subordinate clause: zodat haar rug rechtop kan blijven

In Dutch, you usually put a comma before conjunctions that start a subordinate clause, especially when the clause is a bit longer or when you want to make the structure clear:

..., omdat het regent.
..., zodat hij niet te laat komt.
..., terwijl zij aan het werk is.

So zodat introduces the reason/purpose result clause, and the comma helps visually separate it.

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

Zodat introduces a clause that expresses a result or intended result:

... koopt zij een betere stoel, zodat haar rug rechtop kan blijven.
→ She buys a better chair so that / so her back can stay upright.

Differences:

zodat = so that / so (result or (intended) consequence)
- Focus on the effect or purpose of the action.
omdat = because (reason)
- Focus on why you do something:
- Zij koopt een betere stoel, omdat haar rug pijn doet.
  (She buys a better chair because her back hurts.)
dus = so / therefore (result, but used to start a new main clause)
- Haar rug doet pijn, dus zij koopt een betere stoel.
  (Her back hurts, so she buys a better chair.)
- After dus, you get normal main-clause word order, not subordinate-clause order.

In short:

zodat: joins main + subordinate clause (verb at end).
dus: joins two main clauses (verb in second position).
omdat: gives a reason, not a result.

Why is the order haar rug rechtop kan blijven, and not haar rug kan rechtop blijven?

Both word orders are grammatically possible, but they feel slightly different:

haar rug rechtop kan blijven (original)
- rechtop (upright) is placed before the verb cluster (kan blijven).
- This is a very common pattern: adverbs and predicative words often come before the verbal group at the end of a subordinate clause.
- It sounds quite natural and fluent.
haar rug kan rechtop blijven
- Here kan (auxiliary) comes earlier and rechtop blijven stays together at the end.
- This order is more typical for a main clause:
  - Haar rug kan rechtop blijven.
- In a subordinate clause, many speakers naturally move rechtop in front of the verb cluster, as in the original sentence.

In subordinate clauses, Dutch tends to put non-verbal elements (like rechtop) before the final verb cluster:

... omdat hij erg moe is.
... zodat zij op tijd klaar kan zijn.
... zodat haar rug rechtop kan blijven.

So haar rug rechtop kan blijven matches the usual subordinate clause rhythm.

Is rechtop an adjective or an adverb here, and what does it literally mean?

Rechtop functions here as an adverb / predicative complement describing the position of the back:

recht = straight
op = up

Together, rechtop means upright / straight up.

In zodat haar rug rechtop kan blijven, rechtop describes how the back remains:

haar rug (subject)
kan blijven (can stay)
rechtop (in an upright position)

It’s similar to English:

so that her back can remain upright

Why is it haar rug (her back) and not something like haar ruggengraat (spine)?

This is mainly a vocabulary and naturalness issue, not a strict grammar rule.

rug = back (the whole back area)
ruggengraat = spine (the actual backbone)

In English, you also more often talk about your back when referring to posture or back pain, not your spine. Dutch is similar: for posture and seating comfort, people usually mention their rug:

Ik heb last van mijn rug. (My back hurts / I have back problems.)
Deze stoel is beter voor je rug. (This chair is better for your back.)

So haar rug is the most natural collocation here. Haar ruggengraat would sound very anatomical and is less common in this kind of everyday context.