Breakdown of Dit algoritme doet me twijfelen aan het resultaat.
dit
this (neuter)
het resultaat
the result
me
me (unstressed form of mij)
twijfelen
to doubt / to hesitate
aan
about (with respect to)
het algoritme
algorithm
doen
to make (someone) do something
twijfelen aan
to doubt
Questions & Answers about Dit algoritme doet me twijfelen aan het resultaat.
Why do we use doet here instead of laat to mean "makes"?
This sentence uses doen because the reaction is involuntary and caused by an inanimate subject (Dit algoritme). We use laten when someone is given permission or instructed to do something. When a situation or object triggers an automatic feeling or mental state, like doubting, doen is the correct causative verb to use.
Why is it twijfelen and not te twijfelen?
The verbs doen and laten are causative verbs, and in Dutch, they always pair with a bare infinitive (an infinitive without te). Just like in the English "makes me doubt" (not "makes me to doubt"), you drop the te.
Why is the preposition aan used with twijfelen here?
Twijfelen aan is a fixed combination that means "to doubt the truth, reliability, or validity of" something. While you might hear twijfelen over when someone is hesitating between two choices, twijfelen aan is the correct choice here because you are questioning the reliability of het resultaat.
Could I replace me with mij in this sentence?
Yes, but me is much more natural here. You would only use the stressed pronoun mij if you wanted to specifically emphasize that the algorithm makes YOU doubt the result, as opposed to someone else. Since the focus is on the action of doubting, the unstressed me is preferred.
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