Breakdown of Morgen mogen we laat opstaan.
morgen
tomorrow
laat
late
mogen
to be allowed to / may
opstaan
to get up
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about Morgen mogen we laat opstaan.
Why does the sentence say mogen we instead of we mogen?
Because the sentence starts with the time word morgen (tomorrow). In Dutch, when a sentence begins with anything other than the subject, the verb and subject swap places so the working verb stays in the second position. This is called inversion.
What does mogen do in this sentence?
mogen is a modal verb that means "to be allowed to" or "may" (giving permission). Because the subject is the plural we, we use the matching plural form mogen.
Why is the action word opstaan all the way at the end?
In Dutch sentences with a modal verb like mogen, the modal verb takes the active second position, and the main action verb (opstaan) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence in its full infinitive (dictionary) form.
Isn't opstaan a separable verb? Why isn't it split up here?
You're right that it is separable (for example: wij staan laat op). However, when a modal verb like mogen pushes a separable verb to the end of the sentence, it does not split. It stays glued together as one complete word: opstaan.
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