Doordat het fietspad na de bocht heel smal wordt, stappen sommige mensen daar even af.

Here doordat means because / due to the fact that.

In many cases, doordat introduces a cause that leads to a visible or factual result:

• Doordat het fietspad heel smal wordt, stappen mensen af. = Because the bike path becomes very narrow, people get off.

Compared with omdat:

• omdat is the general word for because
• doordat often sounds a bit more like as a result of / due to

So in this sentence, doordat fits well because the narrow bike path directly causes people to get off their bikes.

Because doordat introduces a subordinate clause.

In Dutch subordinate clauses, the finite verb usually goes to the end:

• Doordat het fietspad na de bocht heel smal wordt

Compare that with a main clause:

• Het fietspad wordt na de bocht heel smal.

So the word order changes because of doordat.

This is because the sentence begins with another element: the whole doordat clause.

Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second rule. That means the finite verb must be in the second position.

Structure here:

1. Doordat het fietspad na de bocht heel smal wordt = first position
2. stappen = finite verb in second position
3. sommige mensen = subject

So:

• Doordat ..., stappen sommige mensen daar even af.

If you started with the subject, you would get:

• Sommige mensen stappen daar even af doordat het fietspad na de bocht heel smal wordt.

Both are grammatical.

Fietspad means bike path, cycle path, or bicycle lane/path, depending on context.

It is a compound noun:

• fiets = bicycle
• pad = path

So literally it is a bicycle path.

Also, pad is a het-word, which is why the sentence has het fietspad.

Because fietspad is a neuter noun in Dutch, so it takes het.

You usually just have to learn whether a noun is a de-word or a het-word, although compounds often take the gender of the final part. Here the final part is pad, and het pad is neuter, so:

• het pad
• het fietspad

Na de bocht means after the bend / after the curve / after the turn.

Breakdown:

• na = after
• de bocht = the bend / curve / turn

So it describes location: the bike path becomes narrow after the bend.

Yes. Here worden means to become.

• het fietspad wordt heel smal = the bike path becomes very narrow

This is different from the passive use of worden, which English speakers often learn first.

Here it is simply a change of state:

• breed worden = become wide
• donker worden = become dark
• smal worden = become narrow

So heel smal wordt means becomes very narrow.

The verb is afstappen, a separable verb.

In this sentence it means to get off a bike or to dismount.

In a main clause, separable verbs split:

• sommige mensen stappen af

So:

• stappen = the verb stem/finite part
• af = the separable prefix, placed near the end

That is why the sentence says:

• stappen sommige mensen daar even af

If you use the infinitive, it stays together:

• mensen moeten daar afstappen
• het is veiliger om af te stappen

Here even does not mean the English adjective even.

In Dutch, even often means:

• for a moment
• briefly
• sometimes just a softening word that makes the sentence sound more natural

So:

• daar even afstappen

means something like:

• get off there briefly
• just get off there for a moment

It often makes the action sound temporary or casual.

Daar means there, referring to that place on the bike path, namely around the point where it becomes very narrow, after the bend.

So it does not mean a completely separate place. It points back to the location already described.

You can think of it as:

• at that point
• there in that spot

Both are possible in Dutch, but they are used differently.

• sommige mensen = some people
• sommigen = some / some of them

In this sentence, sommige mensen is more explicit and natural because it clearly names the group.

Compare:

• Sommige mensen stappen af. = Some people get off.
• Sommigen stappen af. = Some do / some of them get off.

So sommigen can work when the people are already understood from context, but sommige mensen is clearer.

Heel here means very.

So:

• heel smal = very narrow

This is extremely common Dutch:

• heel goed = very good
• heel groot = very big
• heel moeilijk = very difficult

English speakers sometimes expect heel to mean whole, but in this position it usually means very.

Yes.

All of these are possible:

• heel smal = very narrow
• erg smal = very narrow
• zeer smal = very narrow, but a bit more formal or written

In everyday Dutch, heel smal sounds very natural.

Not always, but that is the meaning here.

Afstappen literally means to step off, and it can be used in a few contexts. Most commonly:

• get off a bicycle
• dismount

It can also be used more figuratively in expressions like:

• van een idee afstappen = to abandon an idea

But in this sentence, because of fietspad, it clearly means to get off the bike.

Yes. Dutch allows different word orders depending on what you want to emphasize.

The original sentence starts with the cause:

• Doordat het fietspad na de bocht heel smal wordt, stappen sommige mensen daar even af.

You could also say:

• Sommige mensen stappen daar even af, doordat het fietspad na de bocht heel smal wordt.

Or more naturally with omdat in many everyday contexts:

• Sommige mensen stappen daar even af, omdat het fietspad na de bocht heel smal wordt.

Starting with the doordat clause puts the cause in focus first.