Breakdown of Ik wil het contract vandaag niet lezen.
ik
I
niet
not
lezen
to read
vandaag
today
willen
to want
het contract
the contract
Questions & Answers about Ik wil het contract vandaag niet lezen.
Why does niet come after het contract?
In Dutch, niet is placed after a specific direct object. Because you are talking about a specific contract (het contract), niet has to come after it, not before it.
Why is niet also placed after vandaag?
As a general rule for word order, time words like vandaag (today) come before niet in a Dutch sentence.
Why is lezen at the very end of the sentence?
The verb willen (to want) is a modal verb. In Dutch, when you use a modal verb like wil, it pushes the second verb (lezen) to the very end of the sentence in its full dictionary form (the infinitive).
Since lezen is at the end, does niet have to go right before it?
Yes! When a sentence has a second verb pushed to the end, niet usually goes right in front of it to show that you are negating that specific action.
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