Breakdown of Tom aarzelt even voordat hij antwoord geeft.
Questions & Answers about Tom aarzelt even voordat hij antwoord geeft.
Aarzelt is the 3rd person singular present form of aarzelen (to hesitate).
Basic present-tense conjugation of aarzelen:
- ik aarzel – I hesitate
- jij / je aarzelt – you hesitate
- hij / zij / het aarzelt – he / she / it hesitates
- wij aarzelen – we hesitate
- jullie aarzelen – you (plural) hesitate
- zij aarzelen – they hesitate
So in the sentence, Tom aarzelt = Tom hesitates. The -t ending is regular for jij/hij/zij/het in the present tense.
Even is a very common “softening” word in Dutch. Literally it can mean for a moment or just, but often it mainly makes the action sound lighter, less heavy or abrupt.
In Tom aarzelt even voordat hij antwoord geeft:
- Without even: Tom aarzelt voordat hij antwoord geeft – more neutral, a bit “colder,” just stating the fact.
- With even: suggests he hesitates briefly or just for a moment, and it sounds more natural and conversational.
You can leave it out grammatically, but you lose that nuance of a short, not-very-dramatic hesitation.
In Dutch subordinate clauses (introduced by words like dat, omdat, als, voordat), the conjugated verb typically goes to the end of the clause.
Structure here:
- voordat (subordinating conjunction)
- hij (subject)
- antwoord (object, a noun: “answer”)
- geeft (conjugated verb)
So the “correct” neutral order is: voordat hij antwoord geeft.
Voordat hij geeft antwoord sounds odd and unidiomatic in standard Dutch.
Dutch has:
- the verb antwoorden = to answer
- the noun het antwoord = the answer
Here we have the fixed expression antwoord geven (literally “to give an answer”), where:
- antwoord is a noun
- geeft is the verb (geven)
So hij antwoord geeft = “he gives (an) answer”.
You could also say voordat hij antwoordt (using the verb antwoorden), and that is also correct. The meaning is practically the same; antwoord geven is just a very common phrasing.
The difference is subtle:
voordat hij antwoord geeft
- Literally: “before he gives an answer”
- Slightly more formal or neutral, very common in both speech and writing.
voordat hij antwoordt
- Literally: “before he answers”
- A bit more direct, slightly shorter.
In everyday use, there’s almost no real difference in meaning here. Both are fine; the version with antwoord geeft just sounds very natural to many speakers.
Voordat is a subordinating conjunction (like omdat, als, dat, terwijl). In clauses introduced by these words, Dutch typically uses verb-final order:
- Main clause (V2): Tom aarzelt even. → conjugated verb in 2nd position.
- Subordinate clause: voordat hij antwoord geeft → subject and other elements first, conjugated verb at the end.
So the pattern is:
[Main clause: verb in 2nd position] + [voordat + subject + … + verb at the end].
Not really, in standard Dutch. The natural position here is:
- Tom aarzelt even voordat hij antwoord geeft.
Other options:
- Tom aarzelt even. – also correct.
- Zelfs Tom aarzelt voordat hij antwoord geeft. – this uses zelfs (“even” in the sense of “even Tom”), which is a different word.
Putting even before the verb like Tom even aarzelt is not correct.
You might see Tom aarzelt even voordat…, or in a different structure like Voordat hij antwoord geeft, aarzelt Tom even., but even still stays close to aarzelt, the verb it modifies.
You’ll see both:
- Tom aarzelt even voordat hij antwoord geeft.
- Tom aarzelt even, voordat hij antwoord geeft.
In modern Dutch, a comma before conjunctions like voordat, omdat, als is often optional and depends on style and sentence length.
- Short, simple sentences: comma often omitted.
- Longer or more complex sentences: comma can help readability.
So here, most writers would probably leave the comma out, but including it is not wrong.
The present tense in Tom aarzelt even voordat hij antwoord geeft can express:
A general or habitual action:
- “When this situation occurs, Tom (usually) hesitates briefly before he answers.”
A narrative present about something happening now or in a story:
- “In this scene, Tom hesitates for a moment before he answers.”
Dutch present tense is flexible like English present, but often leans a bit more toward a general/habitual meaning unless context makes it clearly “right now.”
Here antwoord is a noun:
- You can say het antwoord = the answer.
- The verb form would be (hij) antwoordt (with -t).
Clues that it’s a noun here:
- It’s followed by a verb (geeft), which fits object + verb: “gives (an) answer.”
- You can directly replace it with a pronoun like het (it):
- voordat hij het geeft – “before he gives it.”
So antwoord geeft is “gives (an) answer”, not “answers”.
Yes, (iemand) antwoord geven is a very common collocation meaning “to answer (someone)” or “to give an answer (to someone)”. Examples:
- Kun je me even antwoord geven? – Can you give me an answer?
- Hij gaf geen antwoord. – He didn’t give an answer.
It coexists with the simple verb antwoorden (to answer):
- Hij antwoordt niet. – He doesn’t answer.
Both patterns are fully normal; you’ll often hear both.
voordat (one word) = the conjunction “before” introducing a clause:
- Voordat hij antwoord geeft, aarzelt hij even. – Before he answers, he hesitates for a moment.
voor dat (two words) can occur when voor is a preposition and dat is a demonstrative pronoun (“that”):
- Ik heb geen tijd voor dat antwoord. – I have no time for that answer.
- Hij heeft respect voor dat kind. – He has respect for that child.
So in your sentence it must be voordat (one word), because it introduces a clause with a verb.