Breakdown of U mag het schilderij niet aanraken.
u
you (formal)
niet
not
mogen
to be allowed to / may
het schilderij
the painting
aanraken
to touch
Questions & Answers about U mag het schilderij niet aanraken.
How would this sentence look if it were written as a short, impersonal instruction on a museum sign?
It would simply be Niet aanraken. As you are learning in this lesson, Dutch often uses a bare infinitive for public signs and general instructions. U mag het schilderij niet aanraken is the full, polite sentence version of that same rule.
I know aanraken is a separable verb. Why isn't it separated here?
You are right that aanraken (to touch) is a separable verb (aan + raken). However, it stays together here because it acts as the second verb in the sentence. The modal verb mag pushes it to the very end in its full infinitive form. If it were the main active verb, it would separate: U raakt het schilderij aan (You touch the painting).
Why does niet come right before aanraken?
When negating an entire action, niet prefers to go towards the end of the sentence, but it must come before any other verbs parked at the very end. Since the infinitive aanraken sits at the end, niet is placed directly in front of it.
Schilderij ends in -ij. Is this a special plural or diminutive form?
Neither! While -je is the diminutive ending, -ij is just a standard noun ending in Dutch (like in bakkerij or boerderij). Het schilderij is a singular neuter noun meaning a painting. Its plural is schilderijen.
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