Breakdown of Doe je niets, dan verlengen we het lidmaatschap automatisch.
doen
to do
dan
then
niets
nothing
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
verlengen
to extend
het lidmaatschap
the membership
automatisch
automatically
Questions & Answers about Doe je niets, dan verlengen we het lidmaatschap automatisch.
Where is the word for "if" in Doe je niets?
There isn't one! In Dutch, you can drop the word for "if" (als) by moving the verb to the very front of the sentence. Instead of saying Als je niets doet, you can simply say Doe je niets (literally: "Do you nothing"). This is called a verb-first conditional clause.
Why is the verb verlengen before the subject we in the second part?
The second part of the sentence starts with the word dan (then). In a standard Dutch main clause, the verb must be in the second position. Because dan takes up the first spot, the verb verlengen has to come next, which pushes the subject we into the third spot.
Why is it het lidmaatschap and not de lidmaatschap?
Nouns ending in the suffix -schap (which is just like "-ship" in English, as in "membership") are almost always het words when they refer to a status, role, or condition.
Could I use niks instead of niets in this sentence?
Yes, you absolutely can. Niets and niks both mean "nothing" and are interchangeable. Niets sounds slightly more formal, which makes sense here because this sentence sounds like an official notice from a company or club.
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