Like in most languages, the basic sentence starts with thesubject, followed by the (first) verb. Something typical forDutch though, is that all other verbs are basically placed atthe end of the sentence.
Hij - heeft - gisteren - thuis - snel - de was -gedaan.
But:
the when/where/how sequence is often just optional and theobject can often also be the first of these four,
if there is a preposition added to the when,where,how or object, it can also be placed after theotherverbs.
2 - Inversion
Often the subject and 1st verb are switched, so that thesubject follows the verb. This occurs when:
The sentence is a question. Not something strange to English speakers, though in Englishit only sounds right with some specific verbs. A sentence likeWeet jij dat? could hardly be translated as Know youthat?
The sentence is a command or instruction. Also not strange to English speakers (come here, bethere,don't you do that).
A non-subject part of the sentence comes first. Usually this would be when, where or howand incidentally the object. Watch out, though: each of thosepositions could not only be filled by asingle word, but also by a long phrase.
3 - Extraposition
The most weird constructions to English speakers might bethose with all the verbs (including the first) at the end.This occurs when there is a conjunctive word connecting twophrases.
Example (with dat as a conjunctive word):
Ik denk dat hij gisteren thuis snel de was gedaanheeft.
But:
the sequence of the verbs at the end doesn't really matterhere, so it could as well be heeft gedaan,
this extraposition does not apply when theconjunctive wordis en, maar or want,
when the conjunctive word is dus you can choosebetween abasic sequence and inversion,
when of is the conjunctive word and it meansor, thisextraposition does not apply, but it does applywhen ofmeans if.
