Dutch word order pdf

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The basics

• Three parts of a clause
• Main clause: overview

The left side

• The left side
• Finite formation
• Reflexive pronoun
• Reduced indirect object
• Reduced direct object

The middle

• The middle part
• Er, hier, and daar (EHD)
• EHD location
• EHD pronoun
• Er: 'of it' or 'of them'
• Time
• Manner
• Place
• Direct object
• Specific and non-specific direct objects
• Direct object starting with an article
• Direct object and possessive/ demonstrative
• Proper name as direct object
• Direct object starting with a cardinal number
• Direct object starting with an indefinite pronoun

The right side

• The right side
• The other verbs
• Prefix of a separable compound verb
• If the separable verb is the finite verb
• If the separable verb is not the finite verb
• The miscellaneous box
• EHD-postposition
• Indirect object
• Complement
• Link verbs
• Transitive link verbs
• Place of the direct object
• Prepositional phrase

Those of you who have already struggled with the Dutch word order probably know that the basic order of a Dutch main clause is as follows:

subject | finite verb | time | manner | place | other verbs

met tegenzin = reluctantly, unwillingly ; de sportschool = the gym

In general, this word order is correct. However, it is a severe over-simplification of reality: most sentences contain more than just the components mentioned above. What would we do, for example, with the direct object? The indirect object? The reflexive pronoun? And so on. Further, the time-manner-place order can vary according to the type of time, manner and place you use.

You were saying .

If you could not be bothered with these details, I suggest you stick to the simple guideline above. Indeed, forming a proper sentence can be a hazardous job, and you may not be interested in mastering it by learning a bunch of abstract principles. Another way to obtain a sense for the correct word order is by reading (a lot of) Dutch. Yet, it could be helpful to glance through this chapter anyway. You may pick up a few useful hints.

Practical approach

This chapter was written as a practical guide to the Dutch word order. I have tried to use only the terminology that you need to know and invented a few descriptive terms for practical purposes. If you are interested in a more academic paper on this subject, Wikipedia is a good starting point: Word Order, SOV (subject object verb) word orderV2 word order.