Breakdown of Het is laat, daardoor ben ik moe.
Questions & Answers about Het is laat, daardoor ben ik moe.
In this sentence, het is a dummy subject, just like it in English It is late.
- It does not refer to any specific noun.
- Dutch, like English, normally needs a subject in a finite clause, so het fills that slot.
You can think of Het is laat as a direct parallel of English It is late with het = it (dummy subject).
Laat here is an adjective used predicatively (after a form of zijn = to be), and it means late (in time).
- Het is laat = It is late (time of day).
- Laatste means last (final in a sequence), e.g. de laatste trein = the last train. That would be wrong here.
So the correct form for talking about the time is laat, not laatste.
Yes, the comma is natural and recommended here because you are linking two independent clauses:
- Het is laat (independent clause)
- daardoor ben ik moe (independent clause)
Daardoor is a linking word (a conjunctive adverb), and in Dutch it is very common to place a comma before it, especially when it comes in the middle of a sentence like this.
You might sometimes see it without a comma in very short sentences, but Het is laat, daardoor ben ik moe. with a comma is standard and clear.
Daardoor literally means something like because of that / as a result of that.
- Het is laat, daardoor ben ik moe.
= It is late; because of that / as a result, I am tired.
Comparison:
- dus = so / therefore
- Het is laat, dus ik ben moe.
- Slightly more conversational, very common.
- daardoor = thereby / because of that
- Emphasises the direct causal link from the previous statement.
- Feels a bit more explicit or slightly more formal/structured than dus.
- omdat = because (subordinating conjunction)
- Ik ben moe, omdat het laat is. = I am tired because it is late.
- This flips the order: you first state the result (Ik ben moe), then give the reason (omdat het laat is).
All three can describe the same situation, but the structure and emphasis change.
Daardoor is a conjunctive adverb (often called a bindwoord or verbindingswoord in teaching materials).
- It is not a standard subordinating conjunction like omdat, dat, omdat, etc.
- Grammatically, it behaves like an adverb that links two clauses and triggers verb-second word order in the clause that follows.
In daardoor ben ik moe, daardoor comes in the first position, and that pushes the verb ben to position two.
Dutch main clauses follow a verb-second (V2) rule: the finite verb must be in the second position.
In daardoor ben ik moe:
- daardoor = first element
- ben = finite verb in second position
- ik = subject
- moe = complement
So daardoor ben ik moe is correct V2 word order.
Daardoor ik ben moe is ungrammatical in standard Dutch because the verb ben is no longer in second position.
Grammatically, Ik ben moe, daardoor is het laat is possible, but the meaning changes, and it sounds odd:
- Ik ben moe, daardoor is het laat.
= I am tired, because of that it is late.
→ This suggests that your being tired somehow caused it to be late, which is strange.
In normal logic, it’s late is the reason, and I’m tired is the result, so the natural direction is either:
- Het is laat, daardoor ben ik moe. (cause → effect)
- Ik ben moe, omdat het laat is. (effect → cause, introduced by omdat)
Yes, you can say Het is laat, ik ben moe. This is understandable and natural in speech.
However:
- Without daardoor / dus / omdat, the causal link is only implied, not explicitly marked.
- In careful writing, you would usually choose a linking word:
- Het is laat, dus ik ben moe.
- Het is laat, daardoor ben ik moe.
So Het is laat, ik ben moe. is fine in casual contexts but less clear or less polished in formal writing.
Yes, there is a slight difference:
- dus:
- Very common, conversational, neutral.
- Het is laat, dus ik ben moe. sounds very natural in everyday speech.
- daardoor:
- Feels a bit more explicitly causal, slightly more formal or structured.
- You might see it often in written texts, explanations, reports.
Both are correct; in natural spoken Dutch, learners will probably hear dus more often.
This is again the verb-second rule in Dutch main clauses.
You have two options for the second clause:
- Ik ben moe.
- Subject (ik) is first, verb (ben) is second.
- Daardoor ben ik moe.
- Linking adverb (daardoor) is first, verb (ben) is second, subject (ik) comes after.
Once you choose to start the clause with daardoor, the verb must move to second position, so it becomes daardoor ben ik moe, not daardoor ik ben moe.
Both express the same basic idea, but they differ in structure and emphasis:
Het is laat, daardoor ben ik moe.
- Clause 1: Het is laat (cause).
- Clause 2: daardoor ben ik moe (effect).
- Emphasis: you first state the situation (it’s late), then you highlight the result as a consequence.
Ik ben moe, omdat het laat is.
- Clause 1: Ik ben moe (effect).
- Clause 2: omdat het laat is (cause, as a subordinate clause).
- Emphasis: you state you’re tired and then explain why.
So the difference is mainly word order, grammar (main vs. subordinate clause), and which part you foreground (cause or result).
Yes, Het is laat, ik ben daardoor moe is grammatically correct and understandable.
- Here, daardoor is inside the second clause, not at the very start.
- Word order: ik (subject) – ben (verb) – daardoor (adverb) – moe (complement).
Nuance:
- Daardoor ben ik moe puts daardoor in a very prominent position (it’s the first word of the clause).
- Ik ben daardoor moe is a bit more neutral; the focus is first on I am tired, then you add because of that.
Both are acceptable; which you choose depends on what you want to emphasize.
Both is and ben are forms of the verb zijn (to be):
- is = 3rd person singular (he/she/it is)
- Het is laat. → It is late.
- ben = 1st person singular (I am)
- Ik ben moe. → I am tired.
So:
- Het is (it is) because het is 3rd person singular.
- Ik ben (I am) because ik is 1st person singular.