Breakdown of Ik was heel ontevreden. Desondanks wilde ik de telefoon niet terugsturen.
ik
I
zijn
to be
niet
not
willen
to want
Questions & Answers about Ik was heel ontevreden. Desondanks wilde ik de telefoon niet terugsturen.
Why does the second sentence say wilde ik instead of ik wilde?
Desondanks is an adverb meaning "nevertheless." When you start a main clause with an adverb, it takes the first position. Because of the Dutch verb-second (V2) rule, the conjugated verb wilde must come immediately after it, pushing the subject ik to the third position.
What is the breakdown of the word desondanks?
It is a combination of des (an old word for "of that") and ondanks (despite). Literally meaning "despite of that," it is used in modern Dutch to mean "nevertheless."
Why is niet placed near the end, instead of right after wilde?
In Dutch, the word niet must come after a specific direct object, which here is de telefoon. However, niet must also come before any verbs that are pushed to the end of the sentence, like the infinitive terugsturen.
Terugsturen is a separable verb. Why isn't it split up here?
Because the sentence uses the conjugated modal verb wilde (wanted). A modal verb pushes the main verb (terugsturen) to the very end of the clause in its full, unsplit infinitive form.