Breakdown of Heeft de hond de pil geslikt? Hij mag nu namelijk niet overgeven.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
niet
not
de hond
the dog
nu
now
hebben
to have
mogen
to be allowed to / may
namelijk
you see / namely / because (adverb)
de pil
pill
slikken
to swallow
overgeven
to vomit
Questions & Answers about Heeft de hond de pil geslikt? Hij mag nu namelijk niet overgeven.
How does namelijk work in this sentence?
It acts as an explanatory adverb, translating to "you see" or "namely." It provides the reason for the previous question (why we care if the dog swallowed the pill). Unlike want or omdat, which connect two clauses, namelijk sits inside its own main clause.
Why is the word order exactly nu namelijk niet?
In the "middle field" (the part of the sentence between the conjugated verb mag and the final verb overgeven), time words like nu usually come first. The explanatory adverb namelijk follows, and the negation niet comes last, right before the verb it negates.
Why use mag niet (may not) instead of moet niet (must not) here?
In Dutch, mag niet expresses a strict prohibition ("is not allowed to" or "must not"). If you said moet niet, it often sounds weaker, more like advice ("really shouldn't"), whereas here it is absolutely critical that the dog keeps the pill down.
Since overgeven (to vomit) is a separable verb, why isn't it split up here?
Because the sentence has a modal verb (mag). This pushes the main action verb (overgeven) to the very end of the sentence as a full infinitive. When a separable verb is used as a full infinitive at the end of a sentence, its prefix stays attached.
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