Breakdown of We kunnen de verpakking hergebruiken.
kunnen
can
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
de verpakking
the packaging
hergebruiken
to reuse
Questions & Answers about We kunnen de verpakking hergebruiken.
How would I add the word immers to this sentence to mean 'After all, we can reuse the packaging'?
You place it in the middle field of the sentence. It can go right after the modal verb: We kunnen immers de verpakking hergebruiken. It can also go after the specific object: We kunnen de verpakking immers hergebruiken. Both sound natural and act to justify a previous statement.
Is the verb hergebruiken separable?
No, it is inseparable. Verbs starting with the prefix her- (which means 're-' or 'again') are never split. If you used it as the main verb without the modal verb kunnen, it would still stay as one word: We hergebruiken de verpakking.
Why does hergebruiken go at the very end of the sentence?
Because kunnen (can) is a modal verb. When a main clause has a modal verb in the second position, the main action verb is pushed to the very end of the sentence in its full infinitive form.
How do we know to use de with verpakking?
The noun verpakking is made from the verb verpakken (to pack) plus the suffix -ing. In Dutch, all nouns ending in -ing are common gender words, which means they always take the definite article de.
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