Breakdown of Zij hoeven de wasmachine niet zelf te repareren.
niet
not
zij
they
repareren
to repair
hoeven
to need (to)
Questions & Answers about Zij hoeven de wasmachine niet zelf te repareren.
How does the negative obligation hoeven niet te work in this sentence?
To say someone does not have to do something, Dutch uses a form of hoeven combined with a negative word like niet and te + infinitive. Unlike the English 'do not have to', the parts are split up: hoeven is the main verb, niet negates it, and te repareren finishes the thought at the end.
Why is te repareren all the way at the end of the sentence?
In Dutch, when you use hoeven (to need) with another verb, that second verb goes to the very end of the clause as te + the full infinitive verb. Here, te repareren (to repair) gets pushed to the end, wrapping around the object and the negation.
Why does niet come after de wasmachine instead of right after hoeven?
In Dutch, niet usually comes after the specific direct object when that object has a definite article like de or het. Because we are talking about a specific washing machine (de wasmachine), niet goes right after it.
What does zelf mean here, and why is it placed there?