Mijn vader wordt altijd vroeg wakker, zelfs in het weekend.

Because Dutch often expresses to wake up as wakker worden, literally to become awake.

• worden = to become
• wakker = awake

So Mijn vader wordt wakker means My father wakes up.

This is very common Dutch. It is not a passive here, even though worden is also used in passive sentences. In this sentence, it simply means becomes.

Because wordt is the third-person singular form of worden, and the subject is mijn vader = my father, which is singular.

Present tense of worden:

• ik word
• jij wordt / word
• hij/zij/het wordt
• wij/jullie/zij worden

So:

• Mijn vader wordt ...
• but Mijn ouders worden ...

Not in the same way as verbs like opstaan or meenemen.

In wakker worden:

• worden is the verb
• wakker is a predicate adjective

So wakker is not a separable prefix. It behaves more like a complement that goes later in the sentence.

That is why you get:

• Mijn vader wordt vroeg wakker.

And in the infinitive:

• Mijn vader wil vroeg wakker worden.

So the pieces can be separated in the sentence, but this is not a classic separable-prefix verb.

In a Dutch main clause, the finite verb usually comes in second position, and other elements come after it. The predicate adjective wakker often appears toward the end.

So the structure is:

• Mijn vader = subject
• wordt = finite verb
• altijd vroeg = adverbs
• wakker = predicate adjective

This gives:

• Mijn vader wordt altijd vroeg wakker.

That sounds natural in Dutch.

Here vroeg means early, and it functions adverbially: it tells you when your father wakes up.

Dutch often uses the same form for adjective and adverb:

• een vroege trein = an early train
• Hij komt vroeg. = He comes early.

So in this sentence:

• vroeg wakker worden = to wake up early

No extra ending is needed.

Because altijd and vroeg are both adverbial elements, and this order is natural in Dutch:

• altijd = always
• vroeg = early

So:

• wordt altijd vroeg wakker

This means:

• he always wakes up early

If you change the order, the sentence may still be understandable, but the given order is the most natural and neutral one.

Because mijn vader means my father, and mijn is already a possessive determiner.

In English, you also say:

• my father not
• the my father

Dutch works the same way:

• mijn vader not
• de mijn vader

So mijn already fills the determiner slot.

zelfs means even. It adds emphasis: the speaker is saying that waking up early happens also in a situation where you might not expect it.

So:

• in het weekend = on the weekend / at the weekend
• zelfs in het weekend = even on the weekend

The idea is: my father wakes up early all the time, and that is true even on weekends, when many people sleep later.

Because Dutch normally uses in het weekend for on the weekend / at the weekend.

This is just the usual preposition with this time expression:

• in het weekend
• in de week
• in de zomer

English and Dutch do not always use the same preposition, so this is something you mostly learn as a fixed expression.

Yes, Dutch allows some movement of adverbial phrases, but the emphasis can change.

The given sentence:

• Mijn vader wordt altijd vroeg wakker, zelfs in het weekend.

This is very natural because zelfs in het weekend is added as an emphasized extra detail.

You could also say:

• Mijn vader wordt zelfs in het weekend altijd vroeg wakker.

That version keeps the phrase more integrated into the sentence. It is also correct, but the rhythm and focus are slightly different.

The original version sounds especially natural in speech and writing when you want to add even on the weekend as an afterthought or emphasis.

Yes, but the meaning is slightly different.

• Mijn vader wordt altijd vroeg wakker = My father always wakes up early.
• Mijn vader is altijd vroeg wakker = My father is always awake early / is always up early.

So:

• wordt wakker focuses on the moment of waking up
• is wakker focuses on the state of being awake

In many situations they are close in meaning, but they are not identical.

Yes. Many learners find wordt tricky because of the consonant cluster at the end.

A few useful points:

• It comes from worden
• In spelling, the -dt is kept in hij wordt
• In actual pronunciation, the ending is often not pronounced as fully as the spelling suggests

So learners often hear something close to wort. The exact sound depends on accent and speed, but the spelling remains wordt.

This is one of those places where Dutch spelling looks heavier than everyday pronunciation.

The main change would be the verb form.

Singular:

• Mijn vader wordt altijd vroeg wakker.

Plural:

• Mijn ouders worden altijd vroeg wakker.

So:

• vader → ouders or another plural noun
• wordt → worden

The rest of the sentence can stay the same.