De webcam doet het niet, dus Sofie belt in zonder beeld.

Webcam is a de-word in Dutch, so you say de webcam.

This is something you usually have to learn together with the noun:

• de webcam
• de telefoon
• het beeld

Even though webcam is borrowed from English, in Dutch it still gets a grammatical gender/article, and that article is de.

Het niet doen is a very common Dutch expression meaning not to work / not to function.

So:

• De webcam doet het niet = The webcam isn’t working

This phrase is used for devices, machines, systems, and even sometimes body parts:

• Mijn telefoon doet het niet. = My phone isn’t working.
• De printer doet het niet. = The printer isn’t working.
• Mijn been doet het niet goed. = My leg isn’t working properly.

It is much more idiomatic here than translating English word-for-word with werken.

Good question. The het in doet het niet does not refer directly to de webcam as a noun gender pronoun.

In this expression, het doen is a fixed idiomatic pattern meaning to work / to function. The het is part of the expression.

So:

• De webcam doet het niet
• Mijn laptop doet het niet
• De auto doet het niet

In all of these, the het stays the same, even if the noun is a de-word.

Because dus is usually a coordinating conjunction in Dutch, similar to so in English. It connects two main clauses, and the normal word order of a main clause stays the same.

So:

• De webcam doet het niet, dus Sofie belt in zonder beeld.

The second clause is a normal main clause:

• subject: Sofie
• verb: belt

Compare:

• ..., dus Sofie belt in. = normal main clause order

If you used an adverb such as daarom instead, inversion would usually happen:

• De webcam doet het niet. Daarom belt Sofie in zonder beeld.

So this is an important contrast:

• dus + subject + verb
• daarom + verb + subject

The verb is inbellen, which is a separable verb.

In a main clause in the present tense, the verb splits:

• inbellen → belt ... in

So:

• Sofie belt in = Sofie calls in / dials in / joins by phone

More examples:

• Ik bel in.
• Hij belt morgen in.
• Wij bellen zonder video in.

But in the infinitive or with some other structures, it stays together:

• Sofie wil inbellen.
• Inbellen zonder beeld is geen probleem.

Inbellen means something like:

• to call in
• to dial in
• to join remotely by phone/audio

In this sentence, it suggests Sofie is joining some kind of meeting or call, but without video.

Depending on context, English translations could be:

• call in
• dial in
• join by phone

Literally, zonder beeld means without image/picture.

In this context, the natural meaning is:

• without video
• with no camera image
• audio only

So the whole phrase suggests Sofie joins the call without showing video because the webcam is not working.

In Dutch, after zonder (without), you often use a noun without an article when you mean it in a general or uncountable way.

So:

• zonder beeld = without video / without image
• zonder geluid = without sound
• zonder problemen = without problems

If you added an article, it would sound more specific and would usually change the meaning:

• zonder het beeld would mean without the image, referring to a particular image/video feed

Here the general meaning is intended, so zonder beeld is the natural phrasing.

Not exactly, but in this context they are very close.

Beeld literally means:

• image
• picture
• visual

In video-call contexts, zonder beeld often means:

• without video
• camera off
• no visual feed

Dutch speakers commonly use beeld in this way when talking about calls, TV, streaming, or cameras.

Both are present tense forms.

• doet = present tense of doen
• belt = present tense of bellen

More specifically:

• de webcam doet het niet = the webcam is not working
• Sofie belt in = Sofie calls in / is calling in

Dutch often uses the present tense where English might also use the present progressive:

• Sofie belt in can mean Sofie is calling in depending on context.

It comes from the verb bellen.

Present tense:

• ik bel
• jij belt
• hij/zij belt
• wij bellen
• jullie bellen
• zij bellen

So Sofie belt uses the hij/zij form.

With the separable prefix:

• infinitive: inbellen
• main clause: Sofie belt in

A very literal breakdown is:

• De webcam = the webcam
• doet het niet = does not do it / does not work
• dus = so
• Sofie = Sofie
• belt in = calls in / dials in
• zonder beeld = without video / without image

So the structure is:

The webcam doesn’t work, so Sofie calls in without video.

A more natural English version might be:

• The webcam isn’t working, so Sofie joins without video.
• The webcam isn’t working, so Sofie calls in without video.

Yes, De webcam werkt niet is understandable and correct.

But De webcam doet het niet is especially common and idiomatic for devices that are failing to function.

So:

• De webcam werkt niet = The webcam doesn’t work
• De webcam doet het niet = The webcam isn’t working / The webcam’s not functioning

Both are fine, but doet het niet often sounds a bit more natural in everyday speech for machines and electronics.