Breakdown of Dan hoeven we de dobbelsteen niet te gooien.
niet
not
dan
then
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
hoeven
to need (to)
te
to (infinitive marker)
de dobbelsteen
the die
gooien
to roll / to throw
Questions & Answers about Dan hoeven we de dobbelsteen niet te gooien.
Why does the verb hoeven come before the subject we?
This is because of the "V2 rule" (verb-second). The sentence starts with the adverb Dan (Then). In Dutch, the conjugated verb must be the second element in a main clause. Because Dan takes the first spot, the verb hoeven takes the second spot, which pushes the subject we into the third spot. This is called inversion.
Why is the word te used before gooien?
The verb hoeven (to need) is almost always used with a negative word like niet to mean "do not have to". When hoeven is paired with another verb at the end of the sentence, that second verb must have te in front of it. So, "do not have to roll" becomes niet hoeven te gooien.
If hoeven means "need", why didn't we just use moeten (must) here?
Why is niet placed after de dobbelsteen?
In Dutch, niet usually comes after a specific direct object. Because de dobbelsteen is a specific object (indicated by the word de), niet is placed right after it, rather than directly after the first verb.
Doesn't gooien normally mean "to throw"?
Yes, it does! However, in Dutch, you "throw" a die rather than "roll" it. So, de dobbelsteen gooien is the standard, natural way to translate "to roll the die".
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