Learn Dutch: Ik wilde je niet dwingen om te antwoorden. - I did not want to force you to answer.

When you report a command, request, or an action forced on someone, Dutch uses om te plus the infinitive verb. So 'to force you to answer' becomes dwingen om te antwoorden. You will see this pattern a lot with verbs like vragen (to ask), bevelen (to order), and dwingen (to force).

Why is niet placed right after je?

In Dutch word order, niet usually comes after specific objects, like the pronoun je. It also needs to come before the verb it is negating (dwingen). If you put niet before je, it would sound like you wanted to force 'not you, but someone else'.

Can I use wou instead of wilde here?

Yes, you can. Both wou and wilde are past tense forms of willen (to want). Wilde is the standard form used in both writing and speech, while wou is informal and mostly used in everyday spoken Dutch.

Could we use jou instead of je in this sentence?