Breakdown of De winkeliers geven garantie, maar sommigen doen dat niet.
niet
not
maar
but
doen
to do
dat
that (het-words)
Questions & Answers about De winkeliers geven garantie, maar sommigen doen dat niet.
Why does sommigen have an -n at the end?
When quantifying pronouns like sommige are used independently (meaning without a noun right after them) AND they refer to people, you must add an -n. Since it refers back to de winkeliers (the shopkeepers) and stands on its own, it becomes sommigen.
Would I write sommige without the -n if it referred to things instead of people?
Yes! If the first half of the sentence was about shops (de winkels) instead of shopkeepers, the pronoun would just be sommige. You only add the -n for independent pronouns when they refer to human beings.
Why is the verb doen right after sommigen, doesn't maar push the verb to the end?
No, maar (but) is a coordinating conjunction, just like en (and) or want (because). These words link two independent main clauses without changing the word order. So the second clause starts with the subject (sommigen) followed by the verb in the normal second position (doen).
What exactly does dat replace here?
dat refers back to the entire action of giving a warranty (garantie geven). Just like in English where you might say "some don't do that," Dutch uses dat doen to avoid repeating the whole verb phrase.