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Subordinated sentence: Sanne dacht, dat Erik het theater zou opbellen.
Sanne thought Erik would call the theater.
Alternatives: 1) Sanne dacht, dat Erik het theater op zou bellen.
2) Sanne dacht, dat Erik het theater opbellen zou.
In the subordinated sentence, the first sentence is the preferred grammatical
form. The separated form in alternative 1 is more common in speech, and
alternative 2 is considered uncommon in modern Dutch, even though it
is grammatically correct.
In the present perfect, the word order in the verb group is as follows:
Erik zou het theater hebben opgebeld.
Erik would have called the theater.
Alternatives: 1) Erik zou het theater op hebben gebeld.
2) Erik zou het theater opgebeld hebben.
The first sentence is the preferred form, with the helping verb before the
past participle of the main verb. Alternative 1 is more common in speech,
and alternative 2 is less common in modern Dutch. In a subordinated
sentence, the word order is as follows:
Sanne dacht, dat Erik het theater zou hebben opgebeld.
Sanne thought that Erik would have called the theater.
Alternatives: 1) Sanne dacht, dat Erik het theater op zou hebben gebeld.
2) Sanne dacht, dat Erik het theater opgebeld zou hebben.
Again, the first sentence, with the two helping verbs before the participle
of the main verb, is the preferred form. The separated form of the main
verb is more common in speech, and alternative 2 is less common in
modern Dutch.
Separable verbs in the conditional with an
auxiliary verb
When used in the conditional with zou in combination with an auxiliary
verb, separable verbs can be separated or not. Examples in main and subordinated
sentences:
Erik zou het theater moeten opbellen.
Erik should call the theater.
Alternative: Erik zou het theater op moeten bellen.
Separable
verbs
in the
conditional
with an
auxiliary
verb
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