Starting with the object for emphasis or contrast

The pattern

Put the part you want to focus on, contrast or link back to in position one, the slot before the verb. The conjugated verb stays in position two, and the subject comes after it.

• Neutral order: Ik vond die film saai.
• With focus: Die film vond ik saai.
• Almost any sentence part can go first: an object, a time, place or manner phrase (op de fiets), even an adjective.
• Only one part goes before the verb. Linking words like en, maar and want don't count.
• In speech, position one is very often die or dat, referring back to what was just mentioned.
• This works in main clauses. After omdat, als or terwijl, the verb goes to the end as usual (see Omdat or want).

Examples

Why it works this way

Dutch has one firm rule for main clauses: the conjugated verb sits in second place (Verb second: the golden rule). The first slot is free, and speakers fill it with whatever makes the best bridge from the previous sentence. Very often that is not the subject.

Say Priya asks: Heb je de mail van Lotte al gelezen? The natural reply is Ja, die heb ik vanochtend gelezen. The word die picks up the mail you were both just talking about, and the new information, vanochtend, comes later. Known information first, news later: that is a strong tendency rather than a law, but it explains most of the fronting you will hear.

Contrast follows the same logic. In Koffie drink ik niet meer, thee wel, both koffie and thee get stress, so the listener hears the opposition straight away.

English can front an object too (That one I've read), but it sounds marked. In Dutch it is completely ordinary. In this slot, speakers usually choose die and dat rather than hem, and object het is not possible there at all (more in Die and dat instead of hij and het in speech). In relaxed speech you will even hear the topic named first and then picked up again: Die nieuwe collega, die heb ik gisteren gesproken. The first part stands outside the sentence, followed by a tiny pause.

Remember: seat two belongs to the verb. If anything other than the subject takes seat one, the subject sits down after the verb.

Watch out

• 错误Die film ik vond echt saai.

  正确Die film vond ik echt saai.

  the verb stays second, so ik moves behind it

• 错误Het heb ik al gedaan.

  正确Dat heb ik al gedaan.

  object het cannot open a sentence, so use dat

• 错误Dat boek heb ik het al gelezen.

  正确Dat boek heb ik al gelezen.

  don't repeat the fronted object with a pronoun, a habit from Spanish and Arabic

• 错误Ik kom niet mee, omdat die film heb ik al gezien.

  正确Ik kom niet mee, want die film heb ik al gezien.

  after omdat the verb goes to the end, while want keeps main clause order

Quick check

Use it today

When someone asks whether you know, have seen or have done something, answer with die or dat in first position: Dat weet ik niet, Die heb ik al gezien, Dat heb ik gisteren gedaan. Aim for three of these before the day is over.