DutchYou're late and your colleague asks why. Ik ben te laat, want de trein had vertraging, or omdat de trein vertraging had? Both mean "because", both are right, but the verb is in a different place. Get this one difference and you stop making the most common mistake at A2.
Short answer: after want the order stays plain: want de trein had vertraging. After omdat the verb goes to the end: omdat de trein vertraging had. After daarom (that's why) the verb comes right away: daarom ben ik te laat.
1 Three kinds of words, three word orders
Dutch has three groups of words for joining sentences. Each group does something different with the verb:
| Group | Words | The verb | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| joins two plain sentences | want, en, maar, of | stays where it is | ..., want ik heb haast. |
| starts a subordinate clause | omdat, doordat, als, dat, zodat, terwijl | goes to the end | ..., omdat ik haast heb. |
| takes the first place | daarom, daardoor, toch, dan | comes right after it | Daarom heb ik haast. |
So you don't have to think it through for every sentence: learn which group each word belongs to. Want works like en (and), omdat like dat (that), daarom like morgen at the start of a sentence (Morgen ga ik).
Teacher's tip: say want and think en: nothing changes after either. Say omdat and think dat: ik denk dat hij ziek is.
English speakers find want easy, because it keeps the English order. Omdat is where it goes wrong: omdat de trein had vertraging is English word order with Dutch words.
2 Want or omdat: what's the difference?
Most of the time they mean the same and you pick the one you find easier. But there are three differences:
- Only omdat can go first. Omdat het regent, neem ik een paraplu mee. With want you can't: Want het regent, neem ik ... is wrong.
- Only omdat can stand alone, as the answer to waarom (why). Waarom ben je zo laat? – Omdat de trein vertraging had. You'll hear it with want in casual speech, but it isn't proper.
- Want can also give evidence. Ans is thuis, want het licht brandt: Ans is home, because (I can tell) the light is on. The light isn't the reason Ans is home, it's how you know. With omdat it becomes odd: it would mean she stays home for the light.
LindaWaarom ben je zo laat?
YouSorry, ik ben te laat, omdat de trein vertraging had.
LindaHm. Je had in ieder geval haast, want je hebt twee verschillende sokken aan.
3 Daarom and dus: the result
Want and omdat give the reason. Daarom (that's why) and dus (so) give the result: first what happened, then what follows from it.
| Reason | Result |
|---|---|
| Ik ben te laat, omdat mijn wekker niet afging. | Mijn wekker ging niet af. Daarom ben ik te laat. |
| Ik neem een paraplu mee, want het regent. | Het regent, dus ik neem een paraplu mee. |
After daarom the verb always comes right away. After dus both are fine: dus ik neem and dus neem ik. In conversation you mostly hear dus ik.
Don't swap the reason and the result. Ik had haast, daarom heb ik twee verschillende sokken aan makes sense. Ik heb twee verschillende sokken aan, daarom had ik haast means your socks put you in a hurry.
4 A sentence that starts with omdat
When you start with the omdat clause, that whole clause counts as the first place. So the verb comes right after it, just as after daarom or morgen:
| Right | Wrong |
|---|---|
| Omdat de trein vertraging had, ben ik iets later. | |
| Omdat het regent, neem ik een paraplu mee. |
It feels like a double twist: inside the omdat clause the verb goes to the back, and right after it the next verb comes to the front. The two verbs end up side by side, with only a comma between them: vertraging had, ben ik.
5 Two verbs in the clause
If the omdat clause has two verbs, both go to the end, together:
- Ik kan niet komen, omdat ik de presentatie nog moet maken. (because I still have to make the presentation)
- Ik heb honger, omdat ik niet heb ontbeten. Also right: omdat ik niet ontbeten heb.
With a past participle (ontbeten, gezien) either order of the two verbs is fine. With moet maken, kan komen and wil gaan the helping verb usually comes first.
After want everything stays plain: Ik kan niet komen, want ik moet de presentatie nog maken.
6 Omdat or doordat?
At B1 a little brother joins in: doordat. The verb goes to the end here too, but the meaning is narrower:
- Doordat gives a cause nobody could help: Doordat het glad was, viel ik van mijn fiets. (Because it was slippery, I fell off my bike.)
- Omdat can do that too, but also gives a reason or a choice: Omdat ik honger had, ging ik eten. With doordat that sounds odd, as if your hunger pushed you into the kitchen.
In doubt? Choose omdat. It's nearly always right.
Partner tip Play "that's why". One of you says what happened, Het regent., and the other gives the result with daarom and the verb straight after it: Daarom blijf ik binnen. Then the next one builds on that: Daarom kijken we een film. The sillier the chain gets, the better daarom + verb sticks.
Test yourself
Make one sentence with omdat: Ik ben te laat. Mijn band is lek. (My tyre is flat.)
Ik ben te laat, omdat mijn band lek is. After omdat, is goes to the end.
Now with want.
Ik ben te laat, want mijn band is lek. After want the order stays plain.
Start with: Mijn band is lek. Daarom ...
Mijn band is lek. Daarom ben ik te laat. After daarom the verb comes right away.
Start with omdat: Omdat mijn band lek is, ...
Omdat mijn band lek is, ben ik te laat. The omdat clause is the first place, so ben comes right after it.
Is this right? "Want het regent, neem ik een paraplu mee."
No. A want clause can't go first. Say Omdat het regent, neem ik een paraplu mee.
Omdat or doordat? "... de stroom uitviel, werkte de lift niet." (the power went out, the lift didn't work)
Doordat (or omdat). A cause nobody could help: doordat fits exactly.
