Tom schrijft haastig een notitie in zijn notitieboek, omdat de docent al begint.

Dutch main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the conjugated verb goes in the second position.

So in:

Tom schrijft haastig een notitie ...

• Tom is the first element
• schrijft must come second

This is one of the most important Dutch word-order patterns.

You can move another element to the front for emphasis, but then the verb still stays second:

Haastig schrijft Tom een notitie ...

That is grammatical, but less neutral than the original sentence.

Both are present tense, third-person singular forms.

• schrijven → stem schrijf → schrijft
• beginnen → stem begin → begint

With hij/zij/het or a singular name like Tom, Dutch usually adds -t in the present tense:

• Tom schrijft
• de docent begint

So schrijft and begint are simply the normal present-tense forms for a singular subject.

Haastig is an adverb here, modifying schrijft. It tells you how Tom writes the note.

A very common neutral Dutch order is:

subject + finite verb + adverb + object

So:

Tom schrijft haastig een notitie

sounds very natural.

If you move haastig, the sentence may still be grammatical, but the emphasis changes. For example:

• Tom schrijft een notitie haastig → possible, but less natural
• Haastig schrijft Tom een notitie → more literary or emphatic

They are related, but they are not the same thing:

• notitie = a note
• notitieboek = a notebook

Notitieboek is a compound noun:

• notitie
  • boek

In Dutch compounds, the last part determines the grammatical gender and basic category of the whole word. Since boek is a het-word, notitieboek is also a het-word:

• het boek
• het notitieboek

Because Dutch normally uses in for writing inside a notebook, book, or exercise book.

So:

• in een notitieboek
• in een schrift
• in een boek

This is very similar to English in a notebook.

Dutch more often uses op with a surface:

• op papier
• op het bord
• op een bladzijde (on a page)

So in zijn notitieboek is the natural choice here.

This is about indefinite vs definite reference.

• een notitie = a note, one note, not previously identified
• de docent = the teacher/lecturer, a specific one

So the sentence treats the note as something newly introduced, but the teacher as someone specific and identifiable in the situation.

Also, docent is a de-word, so its definite article is de:

• de docent

Because zijn is a possessive adjective meaning his.

In Dutch, a possessive usually replaces the article:

• het notitieboek = the notebook
• zijn notitieboek = his notebook

You normally do not say both together in standard Dutch. So not:

• het zijn notitieboek ❌

Since the notebook belongs to Tom, zijn notitieboek is exactly what Dutch expects.

Omdat means because, and it introduces a subordinate clause.

In a Dutch subordinate clause, the conjugated verb usually goes toward the end:

• main clause: De docent begint al
• subordinate clause: omdat de docent al begint

That is why the clause is:

omdat de docent al begint

and not the main-clause order:

omdat de docent begint al ❌

Learning this difference between main-clause word order and subordinate-clause word order is essential in Dutch.

Al means already.

In a subordinate clause introduced by omdat, adverbs like al typically come before the final verb:

omdat de docent al begint

Compare the main clause version:

De docent begint al

So the position of al changes because the verb moves to the end of the subordinate clause.

It can cover both, depending on context.

In Dutch, the simple present is often used where English prefers the present progressive.

So:

• Tom schrijft ... can mean Tom writes ... or Tom is writing ...
• de docent begint can mean the teacher starts or the teacher is starting

In this sentence, the natural English meaning is probably closer to is writing and is already starting, but Dutch does not need a separate progressive form here.

Dutch does have a more explicit ongoing form, for example:

Tom is een notitie aan het schrijven

But the simple present is perfectly normal in your sentence.

Because Dutch normally separates a main clause and a subordinate clause with a comma in standard writing.

So:

Tom schrijft haastig een notitie in zijn notitieboek, omdat de docent al begint.

This comma is standard and helps show where the explanation begins.

You will see the same pattern very often with conjunctions like:

• omdat = because
• als = if/when
• terwijl = while
• hoewel = although

Yes, but there is a nuance.

• docent often means teacher/lecturer/instructor, especially in secondary education, higher education, or more formal contexts
• leraar is also a very common word for teacher

So de docent is completely natural here, especially if the context is a class and the speaker wants a slightly more formal or institutional word.