Breakdown of Hij vertelt de waarheid, omdat hij niet liegt.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
niet
not
vertellen
to tell
de waarheid
the truth
Questions & Answers about Hij vertelt de waarheid, omdat hij niet liegt.
Why is niet placed right before the verb liegt here?
In a standard main clause, niet usually comes after the verb (like in Hij liegt niet). However, because this part of the sentence starts with omdat (because), it becomes a subordinate clause. This pushes the verb liegt to the very end of the sentence, leaving niet right in front of it.
Why is the verb liegt at the end of the sentence anyway?
The word omdat (because) is a strict word-order boss. It always pushes all verbs to the end of its clause. If we used the other word for because, want, the word order would stay normal: ..., want hij liegt niet.
Could we use geen instead of niet here?
No, because geen is only used to negate nouns (specifically, nouns without a definite article like 'the'). Since liegt is a verb (he lies), we must use niet to negate the action.
Is vertelt the only verb we can use for 'telling the truth'?
No, you can use both de waarheid vertellen (to tell the truth) and de waarheid zeggen (to say the truth). Vertelt sounds a bit more like narrating or explaining a story, but both are very common and correct.