Breakdown of Ondanks de tegenslag weigert het team op te geven.
het team
the team
te
to (infinitive marker)
opgeven
to give up
ondanks
despite
de tegenslag
the setback
weigeren te
to refuse to
Questions & Answers about Ondanks de tegenslag weigert het team op te geven.
Why is the word order weigert het team instead of het team weigert?
The sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Ondanks de tegenslag (Despite the setback). Because this phrase takes up the first position in the sentence, the main verb (weigert) must come in the second position. This pushes the subject (het team) to the third position. This is the standard Dutch inversion rule.
Can I use hoewel (although) instead of ondanks in this sentence?
Not without changing the rest of the sentence. Ondanks (despite) is a preposition, so it is followed simply by a noun phrase (de tegenslag). Hoewel is a conjunction, meaning it needs to introduce a full clause with its own subject and verb, like: Hoewel er een tegenslag is... (Although there is a setback...).
Why do we need the word te in this sentence?
Just like in English where you say "refuses to give up" rather than "refuses give up", Dutch requires te plus an infinitive verb when it is the object of the verb weigeren (to refuse).
Why is te placed in the middle of op te geven instead of before it?
The verb for "to give up" is opgeven, which is a separable verb made of the prefix op and the base verb geven. When a separable verb requires a te, it is always sandwiched right between the prefix and the verb, creating op te geven.
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