Breakdown of De jongen begrijpt het probleem niet.
de jongen
the boy
niet
not
het probleem
the problem
begrijpen
to understand
Questions & Answers about De jongen begrijpt het probleem niet.
How would I turn this sentence into a yes/no question?
You use inversion! Simply swap the subject (de jongen) and the verb (begrijpt) to put the verb first: Begrijpt de jongen het probleem niet? (Does the boy not understand the problem?).
If I change "De jongen" to "jij" (you) and make it a question, do I keep the "-t" on "begrijpt"?
No! This is a special rule for jij (or je). When you ask a yes/no question and jij comes right after the verb, the verb drops its -t. So the question becomes: Begrijp jij het probleem niet?
Why is niet at the very end of the sentence instead of right after the verb?
In Dutch, niet usually comes after a specific, known noun object. Because we are talking about the problem (het probleem), which is a specific thing, niet is placed after it.
Why is it begrijpt and not just begrijp?
De jongen is a third-person singular subject (like "he"). To conjugate the verb begrijpen (to understand) for "he", you take the verb stem (begrijp) and add a -t, making it begrijpt.