Breakdown of Zij konden het zware obstakel niet alleen verplaatsen.
niet
not
zij
they
zwaar
heavy / severe (of a punishment) / tough, hard
kunnen
can
alleen
alone; only
het obstakel
the obstacle
verplaatsen
to move
Questions & Answers about Zij konden het zware obstakel niet alleen verplaatsen.
Why does zwaar become zware even though obstakel is a het-word?
You might remember that adjectives before het-words do not get an -e ending if they are indefinite (like after een). However, because this sentence uses the definite article het, the adjective gets the standard -e ending. Also notice the spelling rule: when adding -e to zwaar, we drop one a to keep the vowel sound long in an open syllable.
Why is niet placed right before alleen?
In Dutch, when you want to negate a specific part of the sentence rather than the action itself, you place niet right before that specific element. Here, niet alleen specifically means 'not alone'. They could move it, just not by themselves. If you put niet in a different position, it might negate the verb verplaatsen, meaning they could not move it at all.
Is verplaatsen a separable verb since it is pushed to the end of the sentence?
No, verplaatsen is inseparable. The prefix ver- is one of the standard inseparable prefixes in Dutch (along with be-, ge-, er-, her-, and ont-). It sits at the end of the sentence simply because the conjugated modal verb konden always pushes the main infinitive to the end of the clause.
If I wanted to use a complex pronominal adverb from this lesson, like eromheen (around it), where would it go in this sentence?
If you wanted to say 'They could not move the heavy obstacle around it alone', eromheen would typically be placed right before the infinitive verb at the very end. The sentence would become: Zij konden het zware obstakel niet alleen eromheen verplaatsen. These complex pronominal adverbs usually gravitate toward the end of the clause.
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