Breakdown of We moeten niet vergeten om de gasten uit te nodigen.
niet
not
vergeten
to forget
moeten
to have to, must
uitnodigen
to invite
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
de gast
the guest
Questions & Answers about We moeten niet vergeten om de gasten uit te nodigen.
Why is uit te nodigen split into three separate words?
The verb here is uitnodigen (to invite), which is a separable verb. When a separable verb is used with te, the te forces its way right between the prefix (uit) and the main verb (nodigen). This breaks the verb into three distinct words: uit te nodigen.
How does the om ... te structure work in this sentence?
The phrase om ... te means 'to' or 'in order to'. The word om acts as the opening bracket of the clause, placed right after the main sentence. The word te acts as the closing bracket, placed right before the action verb at the very end of the sentence.
Why isn't vergeten pushed to the absolute end of the sentence?
The main sentence is We moeten niet vergeten (We must not forget). The modal verb moeten pushes the main verb vergeten to the end of that specific clause. The om ... te part is a completely separate clause that gets added after the main clause is already finished.
Why is niet placed right before vergeten?
When you negate a specific verb that has been pushed to the end of a clause, niet (not) goes right in front of it. Here, we are specifically negating vergeten, so niet takes its place just before it.
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