General typological characteristics

Dutch is an so language, with the subject preceding the object in the unmarked word order, and the verb occupying all three possible positions, depending on the clause type: SOV in embedded and nonfinite clauses, SVO in unmarked declarative clauses, and VSO in finite clauses with a constituent preceding the subject.

Independent clauses show a verb-second effect, where as a rule the finite verb is preceded by a single constituent. Where a clause has more than one verb, the additional verbs are chained together in the final verb position, creating SVOV in main clauses and SOVV in embedded clauses.

Embedded clauses follow the final verb position (‘extraposition’). Relative clauses follow the head noun and are introduced by a relative pronoun; they, too, may appear in extraposition. Nonfinite embedded clauses show transparency effects, sometimes to the extent that all material associated with the embedded clause, except the verb, is realized inside the matrix clause.