Breakdown of Zonder statiegeld verspil je immers geld.
het geld
the money
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
zonder
without
immers
after all (giving a reason)
het statiegeld
the deposit
verspillen
to waste
Questions & Answers about Zonder statiegeld verspil je immers geld.
How does immers change the meaning of this sentence, and why is it placed where it is?
Immers is used to justify a statement by pointing to a shared, obvious fact—similar to "after all" or "as you know" in English. Because it's an adverb modifying the whole sentence, it goes in the "middle field". Here, it directly follows the inverted subject je.
Why is the verb verspil placed before the subject je?
Because the sentence starts with the phrase Zonder statiegeld (Without a deposit). In a standard Dutch main clause, the verb must always be in the second position. To keep the verb second, the subject je has to swap places with it.
Shouldn't the verb be verspilt since the subject is je?
Normally, yes (je verspilt). However, there is a special spelling rule in Dutch: when the subject jij or je comes directly after the verb, you drop the -t. That is why it becomes verspil je here.
What exactly is statiegeld?
Statiegeld refers to the bottle and can deposit system in the Netherlands and Belgium. You pay a small extra fee when buying drinks, which is refunded when you return the empty containers to the supermarket. This sentence works well with immers because everyone knows this system!
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