Breakdown of We typen niet op elkaars toetsenbord, want dat is vies.
zijn
to be
niet
not
op
on
dat
that (het-words)
want
because
typen
to type
vies
dirty
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
elkaars
each other's
het toetsenbord
the keyboard
Questions & Answers about We typen niet op elkaars toetsenbord, want dat is vies.
How do you form "each other's" in Dutch, as seen with elkaars?
You simply add an -s to the reciprocal pronoun elkaar (each other) to make it possessive. It works exactly like adding an apostrophe-s in English and goes directly before the noun it owns, which here is toetsenbord.
Since "we" implies multiple people and keyboards, shouldn't it be elkaars toetsenborden?
You can actually use either the singular toetsenbord or the plural toetsenborden here. Just like in English, using the singular emphasizes the idea of "each person's respective keyboard," which is a very common and natural way to phrase things in Dutch.
Why doesn't the word want push the verb is to the end of the sentence?
The word want (because) is a coordinating conjunction, meaning it simply links two main clauses without changing the word order. If you decided to use omdat (which also means because), the verb would go to the end: ... omdat dat vies is.
What exactly does dat refer to in the phrase want dat is vies?
The word dat (that) refers to the entire action described in the first half of the sentence: the act of typing on someone else's keyboard. In Dutch, you always use dat to refer back to a whole situation, action, or previous statement.
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