Breakdown of Ik ben blij dat we vanavond niet hoeven te stofzuigen.
ik
I
zijn
to be
niet
not
blij
happy
vanavond
tonight
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
dat
that (conjunction)
hoeven
to need (to)
te
to (infinitive marker)
stofzuigen
to vacuum
Questions & Answers about Ik ben blij dat we vanavond niet hoeven te stofzuigen.
Why does hoeven come after niet here, when the lesson pattern is 'hoeven niet te'?
Because of the word dat (that). When you use dat, it forces all the verbs to the very end of that part of the sentence. In a normal sentence, you would say we hoeven niet. But here, hoeven gets pushed to the end, so it lands right after niet.
Why does niet come after vanavond instead of before it?
In Dutch, the negative word niet usually comes after specific time expressions. Therefore, it is placed after vanavond (tonight) rather than before it.
Why is there a te before stofzuigen?
The word te is a mandatory part of the hoeven niet te (do not have to) structure. Whenever you use this phrase, you must place te directly before the infinitive verb that you do not have to do.
What is the literal translation of the verb stofzuigen?
It literally means 'dust-sucking'! It combines the words stof (dust) and zuigen (to suck) into a single, highly descriptive verb for vacuuming.
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