Editing Dutch grammar (section)

==Word order==

Dutch word order is underlyingly [[Subject–object–verb|SOV]] (subject–object–verb). There is an additional rule called [[V2 word order|V2]] in main clauses, which moves the finite (inflected for subject) verb into the second position in the sentence. Because of this, sentences with only one verb appear with [[Subject–verb–object|SVO]] (subject–verb–object) or [[Verb–subject–object|VSO]] (verb–subject–object) order.

:{| style="font-style:italic"
| Jan||hielp||zijn moeder
|- style="font-style:normal"
|Jan||helped||his mother
|-
| colspan=9 style="font-style:normal" | "Jan helped his mother."
|}

:{| style="font-style:italic"
| Gisteren||hielp||Jan||zijn moeder
|- style="font-style:normal"
| Yesterday||helped||Jan||his mother
|-
| colspan=9 style="font-style:normal" | "Yesterday, Jan helped his mother."
|}

However, any other verbs or verbal particles are placed at the end of the clause in accordance with the underlying SOV order, giving an intermediate order of SVOV(V)(V)...

:{| style="font-style:italic"
| Jan||wilde||zijn moeder||gaan helpen
|- style="font-style:normal"
|Jan||wanted||his mother||to go help
|-
| colspan=9 style="font-style:normal" | "Jan wanted to go (and) help his mother."
|}

In subordinate clauses, the order is exclusively SOV.<ref>Jan Koster: "[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kost006dutc01/kost006dutc01_001.htm Dutch as an SOV Language] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050413224259/http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kost006dutc01/kost006dutc01_001.htm |date=2005-04-13 }}", ''Linguistic analysis'' 1 (1975), p. 111-136.</ref><ref>http://www.let.rug.nl/~zwart/college/docs/zinsleer/zinsleer6.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> In subordinate clauses two word orders are possible for the verb clusters and are referred to as the "red": {{lang|nl|omdat ik heb gewerkt}}, "because I have worked": as in English, where the auxiliary verb precedes the past participle, and the "green": {{lang|nl|omdat ik gewerkt heb}}, where the past participle precedes the auxiliary verb, "because I worked have": as in German.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_han001200701_01/_han001200701_01_0019.php|title = Colloquium Neerlandicum 16 (2006) · DBNL}}</ref> In Dutch, the green word order is most used in speech, and the red is the most used in writing, particularly in journalistic texts, but the "green" is also used in writing.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} Unlike in English, however, adjectives and adverbs must precede the verb: {{lang|nl|dat het boek groen is}}, "that the book is green". For an explanation of verb clusters of three or more see: [[V2 word order#German, Dutch, Afrikaans|V2 word order]]

:{| style="font-style:italic"
| Jan||zei||dat||hij||zijn moeder||wilde||gaan helpen
|- style="font-style:normal"
|Jan||said||that||he||his mother||wanted||to go help
|-
| colspan=9 style="font-style:normal" | "Jan said that he wanted to go help his mother."
|}

In yes–no questions, the verb of the main clause is usually, but not always, placed first instead of second. If the verb comes second, this often implies disbelief, like in English: "The prisoner escaped?" vs. "Did the prisoner escape?"

:{| style="font-style:italic"
|Hielp||Jan||zijn moeder?
|- style="font-style:normal"
|Helped||Jan||his mother?
|-
| colspan=5 style="font-style:normal" | "Did Jan help his mother?"
|}

:{| style="font-style:italic"
|Wilde||Jan||zijn moeder||gaan helpen?
|- style="font-style:normal"
|Wanted||Jan||his mother||to go help?
|-
| colspan=5 style="font-style:normal" | "Did Jan want to go help his mother?"
|}

:{| style="font-style:italic"
| Zei||Jan||dat||hij||zijn moeder||wilde||gaan helpen?
|- style="font-style:normal"
| Said||Jan||that||he||his mother||wanted||to go help?
|-
| colspan=9 style="font-style:normal" | "Did Jan say that he wanted to go help his mother?"
|}

In imperative sentences, the verb of the main clause is always placed first, although it may be preceded by a noun phrase indicating who is being addressed.

:{| style="font-style:italic"
|(Jan,)||ga||je moeder||helpen!
|- style="font-style:normal"
|(Jan,)||go||your mother||help!
|-
| colspan=5 style="font-style:normal" | "(Jan,) go help your mother!"
|}

:{| style="font-style:italic"
| (Jan,)||zeg||dat||je||je moeder||wilde||gaan helpen!
|- style="font-style:normal"
| (Jan,)||say||that||you||your mother||wanted||to go help!
|-
| colspan=9 style="font-style:normal" | "(Jan,) say that you wanted to go help your mother!"
|}

In the following example, the SOV order in the subordinate clause causes the various noun phrases to be separated from the verbs that introduce them, creating a relatively deep "nesting" structure:

:{| style="font-style:italic"
|Ik zie dat || de ouders || de kinderen || Jan || het huis || hebben || laten || helpen || schilderen.
|- style="font-style:normal"
|I see that || the parents || the children || Jan || the house || have || let || help || paint
|-
| colspan=9 style="font-style:normal" | "I see that the parents have let the children help Jan paint the house."
|}

[[Adjective]]s always come before the [[noun]] to which they belong.
:{{lang|nl|rode appels}} – red apples

In contrast to English, adpositional phrases come in the order [[time–manner–place]], again as in German, so that time modifiers usually come before place modifiers:

:{| style="font-style:italic"
|Ik|| ben ||dit ||jaar ||naar ||Frankrijk ||geweest
|- style="font-style:normal"
|I|| am ||this ||year ||to ||France ||been
|-
| colspan="7" style="font-style:normal" | "I have been to France this year."
|}