omdat

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch omdat. Equivalent to univerbation of om +‎ dat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔmˈdat/

Conjunction

omdat

1. because

   Synonyms: kôs, want

   Sy was laat, omdat die treine nie gery het nie.

   She was late, because the trains weren't driving.

Usage notes

• Omdat triggers the use of verb-final word order in the following subordinate clause. This contrasts with want, that uses the word order of positive main clauses.

Dutch

Etymology

Univerbation of om +‎ dat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔmˈdɑt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: om‧dat
• Rhymes: -ɑt

Conjunction

omdat

1. because

   De machinist komt niet naar zijn werk, omdat hij ziek is.

   The train driver is not coming to work because he is sick.

   Ik ben moe, omdat ik laat heb gewerkt.

   I am tired, because I worked late.

   Ze bleef thuis, omdat ze zich niet goed voelde.

   She stayed home, because she wasn't feeling well.

   Hij is gestrest, omdat hij veel deadlines heeft.

   He is stressed, because he has many deadlines.

   We gingen eerder weg, omdat het begon te regenen.

   We left early, because it started raining.

Usage notes

• The word order is subject-object-verb after omdat. This contrasts with the synonym want, after which the word order is that of non-interrogative main clauses.
• In prescriptive use omdat is often reserved for subjective reasoning or non-direct consecution, while doordat implies direct, objective causation and the formal conjunction opdat is used for the end (telos) of an action. Less formal usage tends to prefer omdat to doordat and occasionally omdat is used where opdat would be prescribed. Compare daarom and daardoor.

Hypernyms

• want

Coordinate terms

• doordat

Descendants

• Afrikaans: omdat
• → Kwinti: omdat