Breakdown of Jij hoeft het apparaat alleen maar draadloos te verbinden.
jij
you
alleen
alone; only
hoeven
to need (to)
te
to (infinitive marker)
Questions & Answers about Jij hoeft het apparaat alleen maar draadloos te verbinden.
Why is hoeft used here without a negative word like niet?
The verb hoeven is normally used in negative sentences to mean "don't have to." However, in this sentence, the phrase alleen maar (only/just) acts as a "restrictor." This restrictive meaning is enough to trigger hoeven. Together, hoeft ... alleen maar te means "only have to" or "just need to."
Why do we need te before the infinitive verbinden?
When you use hoeven, it always requires te + infinitive for the action verb. This is different from true modal verbs like moeten or willen, which are followed by a bare infinitive (without te).
Could I use moeten in this sentence instead?
I know draadloos means "wirelessly", but how is this word formed?
It is a combination of the noun draad (wire or thread) and the suffix -loos (less). Unlike English, which often adds "-ly" to make an adverb (wireless vs. wirelessly), Dutch usually uses the exact same form for both the adjective and the adverb.