Breakdown of De innovatie laat de robot het commando gehoorzamen.
laten
to let (laten we ... = let's ...)
de robot
the robot
de innovatie
the innovation
het commando
the command
Questions & Answers about De innovatie laat de robot het commando gehoorzamen.
Why is laat used here instead of doet?
In Dutch, laten is used when you enable, allow, or program an action to happen. Doen as a causative is mostly reserved for involuntary emotional or physical reactions (like making someone laugh or cry). Since the robot is carrying out a specific instruction, laten is the correct choice.
How do we know from the word order that the robot is obeying the command, and not the other way around?
When you have two noun phrases in a laten sentence, the word order is strict. The logical subject (the one performing the action, which is de robot) comes right after the causative verb. The object of that action (het commando) is placed immediately before the infinitive at the end.
Why is there no te before gehoorzamen?
Causative verbs like laten and doen always take a bare infinitive. Just like in English where you say "lets the robot obey" (rather than "to obey"), Dutch drops the te.
Does gehoorzamen always work like this without a preposition?
Yes, gehoorzamen (to obey) is a transitive verb in Dutch. You directly state what or who is being obeyed without needing an extra preposition, which is why het commando sits directly in front of the verb as a direct object.