Breakdown of De schimmel mag het document niet aantasten.
niet
not
mogen
to be allowed to / may
het document
the document
de schimmel
the mold / the fungus
aantasten
to damage / to affect (abstract, gradual, or chemical)
Questions & Answers about De schimmel mag het document niet aantasten.
Does "mag ... niet" here express probability ("might not damage") or prohibition ("must not damage")?
It expresses prohibition: "must not" or "is not allowed to". For an English speaker, "may not" can sometimes mean "might not", but in Dutch, mag niet strictly means permission is denied or it is forbidden. To express probability ("The mold might not damage it"), you would use a word like misschien (maybe) instead of mag.
What is the difference between "aantasten" and a more common word for damage like "beschadigen"?
While both can be translated as "damage", aantasten specifically implies a gradual negative effect, often caused by a biological or chemical process eating away at something (like mold, rust, or disease). Beschadigen is a more general term usually reserved for physical breakage or harm.
"Aantasten" is a separable verb (aan + tasten). Why isn't it separated here?
Because the modal verb mag is the conjugated verb in this main clause, it pushes the main action verb (aantasten) to the very end of the sentence as a full, unseparated infinitive. A separable verb only splits when it acts as the conjugated verb in a main clause (e.g., De schimmel tast het document aan.).
How would the word order change if we made this an "opdat" (so that) clause, for example: "... so that the mold may not damage the document"?
Opdat is a subordinating conjunction, which means it forces the conjugated verb to the end of the clause. The sentence would become: ... opdat de schimmel het document niet mag aantasten. Both the conjugated modal verb (mag) and the infinitive (aantasten) cluster together at the very end.
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