So ... that in Dutch: zo ... dat, zodanig, dusdanig and dermate

In De uitleg was zo duidelijk dat iedereen het begreep (The explanation was so clear that everyone understood it), zo duidelijk gives the degree and the dat-clause gives its result. Dutch can express the same relation with more formal forms such as zodanig, dusdanig, and dermate.

Place zo before the graded word or phrase, then add dat and a verb-final dependent clause that states the result: zo + degree + dat + result.

1. Name the quality, manner, or intensity: duidelijk (clear), snel (quickly), or veel lawaai (a lot of noise).
2. Place zo before it: zo duidelijk, zo snel, zo veel lawaai.
3. Add dat and say what followed from that degree: dat niemand nog vragen had (that nobody had any questions left).
4. Use dependent-clause word order: dat de vergadering werd uitgesteld, with the verb cluster at the end.

The two pieces belong together even when other material separates them. Zo sets up a degree that needs completion, and dat opens the clause that supplies the consequence.

• Use it when a property reaches a degree that produces a result: De vloer was zo glad dat twee mensen uitgleden.
• Use it when the manner or intensity of an action explains the outcome: Ze sprak zo zacht dat ik haar niet verstond.
• Use it with an amount that has a consequence: Er was zo weinig tijd dat we één onderdeel oversloegen.
• Use it in a negative result too: De tekst was niet zo ingewikkeld dat niemand hem kon volgen.

A degree-and-result clause answers “to what extent, with what result?” It does not merely place two events in sequence, and it does not express a purpose someone intended.

Zo ... dat contains a degree word in the first clause and the separate conjunction dat. Zodat is one subordinating conjunction meaning “so that” or “with the result that”; it can introduce a general result without a degree phrase.

Do not fuse the degree pattern into zo ... zodat: write zo druk dat we moesten wachten, not zo druk zodat we moesten wachten. The word opdat is a formal purpose linker only; it cannot replace result dat in this construction.

These forms let formal writing mark the relevant degree without the neutral zo. Zodanig and dusdanig can modify a verb or adjective, and their inflected forms zodanige and dusdanige can stand before a noun. Dermate is an adverb and never takes an -e.

Before a noun, zodanig and dusdanig follow the ordinary adjective-ending pattern: een zodanige maatregel but een dusdanig verschil, and dusdanige verschillen in the plural. Compare the basic zo'n, zulke, and dergelijk patterns, but keep the result clause after the noun phrase.

Use zo ... dat as the neutral default. Zodanig and dusdanig belong mainly to formal language and often make the degree sound more deliberate or official. Dermate commonly sounds emphatic: it presents the degree as especially far-reaching. This is a register and emphasis scale, not a measurement rule; context can make the three formal forms feel equally strong.

Formal does not automatically mean clearer. For a broad audience, the neutral zo ... dat is often easier to process than zodanig, dusdanig, or dermate.

The less frequent formal pattern te ... dan dat means roughly “too ... for it to be the case that” and corresponds to zo ... dat niet: Het dossier is te onvolledig dan dat wij nu kunnen beslissen. This says the dossier is so incomplete that a decision is not possible now.

Use te ... dan dat mainly for recognition or deliberately formal prose; it is less frequent than the neutral paraphrase. In die mate dat makes “to that extent” explicit and works well when an exact adjective such as groot or sterk would be awkward.

When the result can be expressed without its own finite subject, Dutch often uses te ... om te: De doos is te zwaar om alleen te tillen. That shorter infinitive pattern belongs in te ... om te clauses. This page focuses on a full result clause with its own subject and finite verb: De doos is zo zwaar dat één persoon haar niet kan tillen.

• Keep neutral degree zo and result linker dat separate: zo moeilijk dat ..., not zo moeilijk zodat ....
• Use verb-final order after dat: dat niemand het begreep, not dat niemand begreep het.
• Do not use opdat for an unintended result; opdat expresses a purpose.
• Inflect zodanig and dusdanig before nouns when the adjective-ending rule requires it: een zodanige stijging.
• Do not choose a bureaucratic form merely because it looks advanced; zo ... dat remains fully suitable at B2 and C1.

Review subordinating conjunctions, the separate te ... om te result pattern, and forms such as zo'n, zulke, and dergelijk. The comparison page explains dan outside this result construction.