Question 1

Why do we use zonder dat here instead of zonder te?

Accepted Answer

You use zonder dat when the two halves of the sentence have different subjects. Here, the subject of the first part is we (we leave), but the subject of the second part is het hotel (the hotel offers). If the subjects were the same (like 'We leave without offering a compensation'), you would use zonder te: We vertrekken zonder een compensatie aan te bieden.

Question 2

How does zonder dat affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Zonder dat acts as a subordinating conjunction. This means it creates a subordinate clause and kicks the working verb (aanbiedt) to the very end of the sentence, after the subject and object.

Question 3

I know the verb is aanbieden. Why isn't it separated into biedt ... aan here?

Accepted Answer

Because the verb is in a subordinate clause (triggered by zonder dat), it gets pushed to the end of the sentence. When a separable verb like aanbieden goes to the end of a clause like this, its prefix (aan) and the main conjugated verb (biedt) are glued back together into a single word: aanbiedt.

Question 4

The English translation says 'offering compensation', but the Dutch says een compensatie. Is the een necessary?

Accepted Answer

Yes, while English often drops the article for abstract nouns like 'compensation', Dutch usually prefers to keep the indefinite article (een) when referring to a specific instance or offer of it. It literally translates to 'offering a compensation'.

We vertrekken zonder dat het hotel een compensatie aanbiedt.

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