Negated Obligation: hoeven niet te
To express that someone "does not have to" or "doesn't need to" do an action, Dutch uses the verb hoeven.
Because hoeven expresses a lack of obligation, it is always paired with a negative word, most commonly niet (not) or niets (nothing). It also requires the word te directly before the infinitive verb at the end of the sentence.
| You don't have to cook yourself, because we are eating in the restaurant. | Je hoeft niet zelf te koken, want we eten in het restaurant. |
Notice how the conjugated form of hoeven takes the standard verb position, while te and the infinitive wait at the very end of the clause.
| We don't have to do the dishes, because the dishwasher does it. | We hoeven de afwas niet te doen, want de vaatwasser doet het. |
| They do not have to repair the washing machine themselves. | Zij hoeven de wasmachine niet zelf te repareren. |
If you use a subordinating conjunction (like dat), it pushes all the verbs to the end. In this case, hoeven, te, and the infinitive group together.
| I am happy that we do not have to vacuum tonight. | Ik ben blij dat we vanavond niet hoeven te stofzuigen. |
Adding Information with bovendien
When listing benefits, you can use the connecting word bovendien (moreover). If bovendien starts a main clause, it takes the first position, meaning the verb and subject must invert to keep the conjugated verb in the second position.
| The robot works at night and, moreover, you do not have to help it. | De robot werkt 's nachts en bovendien hoeven jullie hem niet te helpen. |
