Breakdown of Zij nemen niets anders dan dat voorstel in overweging.
zij
they
in
in
dat
that (het-words)
nemen
to take (general, abstract, e.g., transport, medicine)
niets
nothing
dan
than
ander
other
het voorstel
the proposal
de overweging
the consideration (deliberation)
Questions & Answers about Zij nemen niets anders dan dat voorstel in overweging.
Why use the structure in overweging nemen instead of just the verb overwegen?
Both mean "to consider," but in overweging nemen is a function verb structure (a formal combination of a noun and a "light" verb). It sounds more official, deliberate, and bureaucratic than just overwegen. You will often see these combinations in professional, legal, or political contexts to add weight to an action.
Why is in overweging placed at the very end of the sentence?
In this function verb structure, the phrase in overweging acts much like a separable prefix. The conjugated verb nemen takes the standard second position in the sentence, while the fixed prepositional part (in overweging) is pushed to the very end of the main clause. It wraps around the rather long direct object (niets anders dan dat voorstel).
How does the phrase niets anders dan work?
It literally translates to "nothing else than," which we would naturally express as "nothing but" in English. Niets means "nothing," anders functions as "else," and dan is the standard word for "than" used in comparisons. It is used here to strongly emphasize exclusivity.
As a quick refresher, why do we use dat instead of die before voorstel?
Voorstel (proposal) is a neuter noun, meaning it takes the definite article het. When you want to say "that" with a het-word, you must use the demonstrative pronoun dat. If it were a de-word, you would use die.
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