Breakdown of De overheid zou meer voor het milieu moeten doen.
doen
to do
moeten
to have to, must
zullen
shall / will
voor
for (on behalf of)
meer
more
het milieu
the environment
de overheid
the government (public authorities)
Questions & Answers about De overheid zou meer voor het milieu moeten doen.
How exactly does zou ... moeten doen mean 'should do'?
Since a government consists of many people, why use the singular zou instead of zouden?
Even though it represents a group of people, de overheid is a singular noun in Dutch. Therefore, it must take the singular verb form zou.
Why do the verbs moeten and doen stack up at the very end of the sentence?
In a main clause, the conjugated verb (zou) takes the second position, pushing all other verbs to the end. Because this sentence uses a 'zou moeten' construction along with the main action doen, both moeten and doen stay in their full infinitive forms and sit together at the end of the sentence.
I learned the word omgeving for 'environment'. Could I use it in this sentence instead of milieu?
No, because they describe different types of environments. Het milieu refers specifically to the ecological environment, which is what governments try to protect with green policies. De omgeving just means your physical surroundings or the nearby area.
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