Learn Dutch: Wij begrijpen het heelal niet helemaal. - We do not understand the universe entirely.

In Dutch, when you negate a sentence with a specific direct object (like a noun starting with de or het), the word niet comes after that object. Since het heelal is a specific object, niet must follow it.

Why does niet come directly before helemaal?

When niet negates a specific adjective or adverb, it goes right in front of the word it negates. Here, niet helemaal works together as a pair meaning "not entirely."

Would it be wrong to say Wij begrijpen het heelal helemaal niet?

That sentence is grammatically correct, but it changes the meaning! Moving niet to the very end pairs it as helemaal niet, a set phrase which means "not at all." That would mean "We do not understand the universe at all" instead of "not entirely."

How is the word heelal formed?

The word heelal is a combination of heel (whole or entire) and al (everything or all). So it literally translates to "the whole all," which is the standard way to refer to the universe in Dutch.