Breakdown of Ik vertrouw niemand, want dit is een heel belangrijk geheim.
ik
I
zijn
to be
een
a/an
heel
very
dit
this (neuter)
want
because
belangrijk
important
niemand
no one
het geheim
the secret
vertrouwen
to trust
Questions & Answers about Ik vertrouw niemand, want dit is een heel belangrijk geheim.
How does niemand work here, and can I say niet iemand instead?
Niemand is an indefinite pronoun that means nobody or no one. In Dutch, you almost always use niemand as a single word instead of combining niet (not) and iemand (someone). Here it acts as the direct object: I trust nobody.
Why does the verb is stay in the normal position after want?
There are two words for because in Dutch: want and omdat. Want is a coordinating conjunction, which means it links two independent sentences, keeping the normal word order of subject + verb (dit is). If you used omdat, the verb would be pushed to the end: ... omdat dit een heel belangrijk geheim is.
Why is it heel belangrijk without an -e at the end of heel?
In this sentence, heel means very, not whole. It is acting as an adverb to describe how important the secret is. Adverbs in Dutch never get an -e ending.
Why doesn't belangrijk get an -e ending either?
The word for secret is a neuter word (het geheim). The rule in Dutch is that when a het word is preceded by the indefinite article een (a), the adjective in front of it does not get an -e ending.
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