Breakdown of De vrienden zullen elkaar advies geven.
de vriend
the friend
zullen
shall / will
geven
to give
elkaar
each other
het advies
the advice
Questions & Answers about De vrienden zullen elkaar advies geven.
Why does elkaar come before advies in this sentence?
In Dutch, the indirect object (the receiver of the action, which is elkaar here) generally comes before the direct object (the thing being given, which is advies). Literally, the sentence order is "The friends will to each other advice give."
Does elkaar change its form depending on the gender or number of the friends?
No, elkaar is invariable. Unlike personal pronouns that change depending on who you are talking about (like ons or hen), elkaar is always just elkaar as long as it means "each other".
Why is the verb geven all the way at the end of the sentence?
This is because of the helping verb zullen (will). In Dutch, when a helping verb takes the normal second position in a main clause, it pushes the main action verb (geven) to the very end of the sentence in its full infinitive form.
Do I need to use an article before advies, like een advies?
You don't need one here. Just like in English, the Dutch word advies is commonly used as an uncountable noun. You can simply say advies geven (to give advice) without using een.
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