Breakdown of Op de tweede januari werk ik niet.
ik
I
niet
not
werken
to work
op
on
tweede
second (2nd)
januari
January
Questions & Answers about Op de tweede januari werk ik niet.
Why is it werk ik instead of ik werk?
This is because of the "verb second" rule in Dutch. When you start a sentence with anything other than the subject, like the time phrase Op de tweede januari, the verb (werk) still has to come second. This pushes the subject (ik) right after the verb.
Where is the word for "of" in de tweede januari?
Dutch doesn't use a word for "of" in dates. While English says "the second of January", Dutch simply puts the ordinal number and the month together: de tweede januari (literally "the second January").
Why does twee have -de attached to it?
Adding -de changes the regular number twee (two) into the ordinal number tweede (second). Most numbers in Dutch become ordinal numbers by adding -de (like vierde for fourth), though numbers from 20 onwards get -ste instead.
Why does niet go at the very end of this sentence?
When niet (not) negates the entire action of the sentence, it generally gets pushed to the end. It must always come after the conjugated verb (werk) and the subject (ik).
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