Breakdown of Wij geven geen fooi, want wij zijn teleurgesteld in de ober.
zijn
to be
wij
we
geen
no / not any
in
in
de ober
the waiter
want
because
geven
to give
de fooi
the tip
teleurgesteld
disappointed
Questions & Answers about Wij geven geen fooi, want wij zijn teleurgesteld in de ober.
Why do we use in after teleurgesteld?
Just like in English, teleurgesteld (disappointed) uses a fixed preposition. In Dutch, you are always teleurgesteld in someone or something. It is a set combination that belongs together!
Why is the word order normal after want (wij zijn) instead of flipping?
Want (because) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it joins two main sentences together without changing the word order. If we used the other word for because, omdat, the verb would be pushed to the end: omdat wij teleurgesteld in de ober zijn.
Why do we say geen fooi instead of niet fooi?
Why does teleurgesteld have -ge- right in the middle of the word?
It comes from the separable verb teleurstellen (to disappoint). When you make a past participle (a word like disappointed) out of a separable verb, the ge- gets sandwiched between the prefix (teleur) and the main verb (stellen).
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