Word order

We will now look at the word order in Dutch sentences. You cannot simply place words in a random
order. There are some rules we have to follow. In this section, we'll look at the word order in the
main clause, in the main clause we'll emphasize elements, and then questions.

A general rule is -- the rule of thumb -- the conjugated verb stands in the second position, as you can
see in the following sentences. [Dutch:]
Ik woon in het centrum.
Het is niet zo goed.
We gaan samen op vakantie.
Dat klopt.

When we want to emphasize an element, we can put that in the first position, then the verb still
keeps to the second position, but the subject goes to the third. So [Dutch:]
Nu woon ik in het centrum.
Dan moet ik weg.
In Toronto woont mijn zus.

In Dutch, we can emphasize an element by moving it to the first position. In other languages,
however, for example, English, this is just done by simply changing the volume. But in Dutch, it's by
changing the word order. Let's look at these sentences. [Dutch:]
Mijn opa woont in Zwitserland.
In Zwitserland woont mijn opa.
They both mean my grandfather lives in Switzerland. You could translate it such as, it is in
Switzerland that my grandfather lives. Well, this sounds rather awkward in English, but in Dutch, this
word order is quite normal. Some more examples, and mind the position of the verb, the second
spot. [Dutch:]
Ik woon nu in Nederland. Nu woon ik in Nederland.
Ik zeg dat niet! Dat zeg ik niet!

In questions, the word order changes. Look at these examples.

"Ja-nee vragen", yes/no questions [Dutch:]
Woon je ook in het centrum?
Hebben jullie ook vakantie?
Studeer je?

“ Vraagwoord-vraag”, other questions [Dutch:]

Hoe laat beginnen we?
Waar kom je vandaan?
Wat ga jij doen?
Wie is jullie docent?

First, in yes/no questions, what's the position of the verb? As you can see, it's the very first position.
[Dutch:]
Woon je ook in het centrum?
Hebben jullie ook vakantie?
Studeer je?

In other questions, starting with a question word, we can see the verb moving to the second position.
Look at these examples. [Dutch:]
 Hoe laat beginnen we?
Waar kom je vandaag?
Wat ga jij doen?
Wie is jullie docent?

In case of more complex sentences, for example, a sentence with two verbs we have this general
rule. The conjugated part of the verb stands in the second position. The other parts of the verbal
group usually come at the end of the sentence. So [Dutch:]
We kunnen nu bij mij eten.
Nu moet ik sporten.