Breakdown of U vergist zich nooit met het geld.
u
you (formal)
het geld
the money
met
with
nooit
never
zich vergissen
to make a mistake
Questions & Answers about U vergist zich nooit met het geld.
Why does this sentence use "zich" instead of something like "je"?
The verb here is zich vergissen (to make a mistake), which is a reflexive verb. It always needs a reflexive pronoun (like myself, yourself, himself). Because the subject is the formal "you" (u), the correct reflexive pronoun is zich, just as it is for he, she, and they.
Is it ever correct to say "U vergist u nooit"?
Yes, technically you can use u as its own reflexive pronoun, so U vergist u nooit is grammatically correct. However, this sounds very formal and a bit old-fashioned. Using zich with u is standard in modern Dutch, partly because it avoids repeating the "u" sound.
The English translation says "make a mistake", but I don't see the Dutch word for "make". Why is that?
In English, "make a mistake" uses an action verb and a noun. In Dutch, this concept is usually expressed with a single reflexive verb: zich vergissen (literally "to mistake oneself"). Therefore, u vergist zich contains the whole meaning of "you make a mistake", without needing the verb maken (to make).
Why is "nooit" placed after "zich"?
In Dutch sentences, the reflexive pronoun (zich) likes to stick as close to the conjugated verb (vergist) as possible. Because of this rule, adverbs of time like nooit (never) or altijd (always) must be placed right after the reflexive pronoun, not before it.
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