Breakdown of Wij willen niets lelijks aan de muur hangen.
wij
we
willen
to want
hangen
to hang
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
niets
nothing
de muur
the wall
lelijk
ugly
Questions & Answers about Wij willen niets lelijks aan de muur hangen.
Why does lelijks have an -s at the end?
Because it comes after niets (nothing). In Dutch, when an adjective describes words like iets (something), niets (nothing), wat (some/a bit), or veel (a lot), it gets an extra -s at the end. That is why lelijk (ugly) becomes niets lelijks (nothing ugly).
Why does the sentence use aan de muur instead of op de muur?
In Dutch, the preposition aan is used for things attached to or hanging from a vertical surface, like a wall. You only use op for things resting on top of a horizontal surface, like a book on a table.
Why is hangen at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses the conjugated verb willen (to want). In Dutch, when you have a helper verb like this in the second position, the main action verb (hangen) is pushed to the very end of the sentence.
How do you pronounce lelijks?
Even though it is spelled with 'ij', the suffix -lijk is always pronounced with a short, unstressed 'u' sound, almost like the English word 'luck'. With the extra -s, lelijks sounds roughly like 'LAY-luks'.
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