-
Sentence structure and word order 6
-
What is a clause? Main and subordinate clausesLecture1.1
-
Sentence structure in main clausesLecture1.2
-
Sentence structure in subordinate clausesLecture1.3
-
InversionLecture1.4
-
First and final positionLecture1.5
-
Order and position of adverbial adjunctsLecture1.6
-
-
Specific types of subordinate clauses 4
-
Relative clausesLecture2.1
-
Conditional clausesLecture2.2
-
Proportion clausesLecture2.3
-
Elliptical clausesLecture2.4
-
-
Om + te + infinitive 2
-
Om … te + infinitive to express purposeLecture3.1
-
(Om …) te + infinitive with specific verbsLecture3.2
-
-
Order and position of other elements in the clause 2
-
Examples of indirect speechLecture4.1
-
Exercises on indirect speechLecture4.2
-
-
Counterfactual 3
-
What is a counterfactual?Lecture5.1
-
Counterfactual with zou(den)Lecture5.2
-
Counterfactual with past tenseLecture5.3
-
Counterfactual with zou(den)
To say the reverse of what is actually the case, in Dutch you can use zou(den) + infinitive:
I thought you would do the shopping.
Were Simone and Karin not supposed to do the shopping?
In the first example, the speaker notes the fact that the shopping has not been done and indicates that the adressee (jij) was supposed to have done that. In the second example, the speaker also implies that the shopping has not been done, and implies that Karin and Simone were supposed to have done the shopping.
Note that zou here expresses uncertainty about a situation. This is also used to express gossip or hearsay, which is not counterfactual per se.
literally: Victoria Beckham would be pregnant again.
i.e.: Victoria Beckham is said to be pregnant again.