"He runs until he is strong."

Translation: Hij rent, totdat hij sterk is.

[Nitric666]

I can't understand why the dutch translation sometimes puts the "is" in the middle like in English - het is lekker - and sometimes at the end - hij sterk is.

[Lenkvist]

"Totdat" changes the word order, which means that the verb comes at the end.

Dutch word order

[Picaresquo]

Saving this for later!

[CJ.Dennis]

That link is now a 404.

[mahankr]

There are a couple of relevant rules:

In normal sentences, the verb is always the second grammatical part of the sentence. For example, in the sentence, "Het is lekker," you have the subject (het), the verb (is) and other parts of the sentence. However, this doesn't mean that the verb is always the second word. The first grammatical element of the sentence could be two words (i.e. het pak, de appel, etc.) or in some cases, even an entire dependent clause. As an example, you could say, "Totdat hij sterk is, rent hij." "Totdat hij sterk is" is one grammatical element of the sentence, so "rent" comes directly after this whole clause in order tom comply with the verbs-come-second-in-normal-sentences rule.

However, this rule does not apply in dependent clauses, where, as in this sentence, verbs are always the last element of the sentence. (A dependent clause is a clause that cannot be a complete sentence on its own - i.e. "Until he is strong" is not a complete sentence.) They consequently come at the end in dependent clauses-"totdat hij sterk is."

Hope this helps...

[simohell]

Do the dutch people never use "lopen" instead of "rennen"? In Belgium we rearly say "rennen"...

to walk = wandelen (belgium) / lopen (netherlands)

to run = lopen (belgium) / rennen (netherlands) / hardlopen (netherlands)

[Nierls]

Nee, in Nederland betekent lopen walking, wandelen wandering/walking en rennen running.

[MokeiAkita]

Does anyone know of any simple list or dictionary of common words that cause inversion as opposed to those that don't? I think I understand the concept but I am still uncertain about which words do or don't cause inversion. I hesitated over this sentence for more than a minute before entering the wrong answer.

[SebastianChw]

The Duolingo Word Order thread should be helpful.

Also, as far as a list is concerned, try this topic on the Dutch Grammar website. The section explains word order very thoroughly and the linked subordinating conjunction part is just een klein stukje :)

[CJ.Dennis]

I finally get how "totdat" = "until". It's just a regular "tot", plus "dat"! Tot strakjes!

[Allows]

You could also translate "he runs" as "hij loopt" but the correction says it's wrong.

[AndrewsSuzy]

another contributor gave a really helpful answer to this - lopen is to walk or to run in a sport; he suggests 'lopen' meaning the latter is short for 'hardlopen'; rennen is to run (eg for a bus)

[MentalPinball]

lopen means run in Belgium, Netherlanders use it to mean walk.

Very confusing for those of us who are mostly exposed to Flemish, but still... We'll have to get used to it.

[Astrid_Isabel]

why not hard lopen?

[Lonelocust]

I used "hardloopt" which is used are more often. People usually only say "rennen" rather than "hardlopen" for sprinting or maybe running away from something.

[Nierls]

hardloopt needs to be seperated, "Hij loopt hard, totdat hij sterk is."

[bogfred]

i am afraid that i can not agree with dl rennen in Dutch is being very busy etc whilst hard lopen is run in this case ,because i and others will suppose that we are dealing with a weak individual trying to become strong and rennen is definitely not the correct translation

[El2theK]

Try explaining that again, because I don't understand what you are trying to say. Are you trying to say that rennen does not mean to run? Because it does

• to run = rennen/hardlopen