Breakdown of Ik merk dat zij de schuld stiekem niet ontkent.
ik
I
zij
she
niet
not
dat
that (conjunction)
merken
to notice
de schuld
the fault
ontkennen
to deny
stiekem
secretly
Questions & Answers about Ik merk dat zij de schuld stiekem niet ontkent.
Why does niet come right before the verb ontkent here?
In a main clause, niet usually goes at the end of the sentence. However, this is a subordinate clause (introduced by dat), which pushes the verb ontkent to the very end. Because niet naturally stays close to the verb it negates, it ends up sitting right in front of the verb at the end of the sentence.
Why is the verb ontkent at the end of the sentence instead of after the subject zij?
The word dat (that) introduces a subordinate clause. In Dutch, subordinate clauses push the conjugated verb all the way to the end of the clause. If this were a regular main clause, the order would be Zij ontkent de schuld stiekem niet.
Why is stiekem placed before niet?
Adverbs of manner (words that describe how you do something, like stiekem) generally come before niet. If we swapped them to say niet stiekem, it would specifically mean she does deny it, but not secretly. Here, the phrase stiekem niet means that keeping quiet (not denying) is her secret action.
Does de schuld always mean the blame?
It means the blame, guilt, or fault in this context. However, de schuld is also very commonly used to mean a financial debt. You just have to rely on the context of the sentence to know which one is meant!
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