Breakdown of Denk jij dat hij wil valsspelen? Ik verwacht van niet.
ik
I
jij
you
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
willen
to want
denken
to think
verwachten
to expect
dat
that (conjunction)
van niet
not / that it isn't (e.g. I think not)
valsspelen
to cheat (in a game or play unfairly)
Questions & Answers about Denk jij dat hij wil valsspelen? Ik verwacht van niet.
Why do we say Ik verwacht van niet instead of just Ik verwacht niet?
After verbs expressing thought or expectation like verwachten, denken, or hopen, Dutch uses van wel (to mean 'so' or 'yes') and van niet (to mean 'not' or 'no') to replace an entire clause. Saying Ik verwacht niet on its own feels grammatically incomplete in Dutch, as if you are leaving the listener hanging.
If I wanted to spell out the whole expectation instead of using van niet, what would that look like?
You would have to spell out the full negative subordinate clause: Ik verwacht dat hij niet wil valsspelen. The phrase van niet acts as a convenient, natural-sounding shortcut to avoid repeating all that information.
Valsspelen is a separable verb. Why are both parts written together as one word here?
Because this is a subordinate clause introduced by dat, all verbs are pushed to the end. When the parts of a separable verb are pushed to the end of a clause alongside an auxiliary verb, the prefix (vals) and the base verb (spelen) reunite into a single word: valsspelen.
Could I change the verb order at the end and say dat hij valsspelen wil?
Yes, both options are correct. In subordinate clauses with two verbs at the end, you can place the conjugated modal verb (wil) either before or after the infinitive (valsspelen). Putting wil first is generally more common in modern spoken Dutch.
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