Advanced Dutch connectors: desalniettemin, ofschoon, immers and more

At B1 you learned to link sentences with daarom, bovendien, echter and hoewel. Those words will carry you through most conversations. But open a newspaper opinion piece, a legal text or an academic article, and you'll meet a second tier of connectors: desalniettemin, ofschoon, dientengevolge, immers, althans, hetzij … hetzij. They make a text more precise, more formal and, used well, more elegant.

This guide covers their meaning, their register and, most importantly, their word order. If you need a refresher on the basics first, read Dutch linking words and Dutch conjunctions.

Three types, three word orders

Every connector belongs to one of three grammatical types, and the type decides the word order. This matters more than the meaning: two words can mean the same thing and still need different word orders.

Compare three ways of saying almost the same thing:

• Het plan is duur, doch het is noodzakelijk. — The plan is expensive, but it is necessary.
• Het plan is duur. Niettemin is het noodzakelijk. — The plan is expensive. Nevertheless, it is necessary.
• Ofschoon het plan duur is, is het noodzakelijk. — Although the plan is expensive, it is necessary.

After doch the order is normal; after niettemin the verb jumps before the subject; after ofschoon the verb goes to the end of the subclause, and the main clause that follows starts with its verb. The rules are the ones from Dutch word order. Only the words are new.

Contrast and concession

These connectors say "and yet": what follows is true despite what came before.

Desalniettemin and niettemin both mean "nevertheless". They're formal adverbs, interchangeable in practice. Desondanks (despite this) is the neutral version you may know from B1.

• Het was een zware campagne. Desalniettemin won de partij de verkiezingen. — It was a tough campaign. Nevertheless, the party won the elections.
• Het voorstel is niettemin door de raad aangenomen. — The proposal was nevertheless adopted by the council.

Ofschoon is a formal hoewel (although). It's a subordinating conjunction, so the verb goes to the end:

• Ofschoon de resultaten veelbelovend zijn, is verder onderzoek nodig. — Although the results are promising, further research is needed.

Doch is a formal, slightly literary maar. Like maar, it doesn't affect word order:

• De voorstelling was kort, doch krachtig. — The performance was short but powerful.

Nochtans means "nevertheless, and yet". It's worth knowing because it's a regional marker. In the Netherlands it sounds formal and old-fashioned, but in Belgium it's ordinary everyday speech. A speaker from the Netherlands would usually say toch instead:

• Hij is gezakt; nochtans had hij hard gestudeerd. — He failed, and yet he had studied hard. (formal in the Netherlands, normal in Flanders)
• Hij is gezakt, terwijl hij toch hard had gestudeerd. — the everyday Netherlands version

See Flemish vs Dutch for more differences like this.

Cause and consequence

Immers means "after all". It gives a reason the reader already knows or will readily accept. Its normal place is right after the finite verb (or after a pronoun); at the very start of a sentence it's rare and very formal.

• We moeten zuinig zijn; het budget is immers beperkt. — We have to be careful; the budget is limited, after all.
• Hij kan het weten. Hij was er immers bij. — He should know. He was there, after all.

Compare want, which introduces new information: want het budget is beperkt simply tells the reader why. Immers reminds them.

Derhalve and dientengevolge mean "therefore" and "as a consequence". Both are formal; dientengevolge is the stiffest of all and mostly found in legal and official texts. In neutral writing, daardoor or als gevolg daarvan does the same job.

• De leverancier ging failliet en dientengevolge liep het project vertraging op. — The supplier went bankrupt and as a consequence the project was delayed.

Zodoende (thus, in this way) is less formal and common in storytelling: Zodoende kwam hij te laat. — And so he was late.

Dan ook is a very Dutch way of presenting a conclusion as logical. It goes in the middle of the sentence:

• Het was een moeilijk jaar. Het is dan ook niet verwonderlijk dat de winst is gedaald. — It was a difficult year. So it's hardly surprising that profits have fallen.

Correcting, adding and digressing

Althans (at least) corrects or limits what you have just said. It often follows a comma:

• Hij komt morgen, althans, dat heeft hij beloofd. — He's coming tomorrow, or at least that's what he promised.
• Niemand heeft geklaagd, althans niet bij mij. — Nobody has complained, at least not to me.

Overigens (incidentally, by the way) introduces a side remark. Trouwens is its informal twin.

• Het verslag is overigens nog niet goedgekeurd. — Incidentally, the report hasn't been approved yet.

Tevens (also, at the same time) and alsmede (as well as) add information in formal texts:

• Tevens wijzen wij u op de gewijzigde openingstijden. — We would also like to point out the changed opening hours.
• de directie alsmede de ondernemingsraad — the management as well as the works council

Conditions and purpose

These are subordinating conjunctions, so the verb goes to the end:

• Mits (provided that): U mag hier parkeren, mits u een vergunning heeft. — You may park here, provided that you have a permit.
• Tenzij (unless): De wedstrijd gaat door, tenzij het onweert. — The match will go ahead unless there's a thunderstorm.
• Opdat (so that, formal zodat): Wij informeren u tijdig, opdat u zich kunt voorbereiden. — We will inform you in good time so that you can prepare.

Paired connectors

Some connectors come in pairs, with one word before each element:

A few notes:

• With zowel … als the verb is usually plural: Zowel studenten als docenten waren tevreden. — Both students and teachers were satisfied.
• Hetzij … hetzij is the formal version of of … of: U kunt hetzij per post, hetzij online reageren. — You can respond either by post or online. Dan wel is a formal single "or": schriftelijk dan wel digitaal — in writing or digitally.
• Enerzijds and anderzijds are adverbs, so each one causes inversion at the start of its clause.

From neutral to formal

Many advanced connectors are simply formal versions of words you already know. Choosing between them is a matter of register, as described in Formal written Dutch.

Tip: Don't pack a short text with formal connectors. One desalniettemin in a paragraph sounds educated; three sound like a parody of a civil servant. Mix them with neutral words, and keep the most formal ones (dientengevolge, doch, opdat) for genuinely formal texts.

Quick summary

• The type decides the word order: coordinating (normal order), adverb (inversion at the start), subordinating (verb at the end).
• Desalniettemin and niettemin = nevertheless; ofschoon = formal hoewel; doch = formal maar.
• Immers = after all, for a reason the reader already accepts; it usually stands after the verb.
• Althans corrects or limits; overigens adds a side remark.
• Derhalve and dientengevolge are formal "therefore"; dan ook presents a logical conclusion.
• Paired connectors: zowel … als, hetzij … hetzij, noch … noch, niet alleen … maar ook.
• Nochtans is formal in the Netherlands but everyday Belgian Dutch.

Practise it

Practise the advanced words in Advanced connectors, review the basics in Linking words, and revisit concessions in Although & despite.