Breakdown of Ik eet de rauwe garnaal niet en hij evenmin.
ik
I
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
en
and
niet
not
Questions & Answers about Ik eet de rauwe garnaal niet en hij evenmin.
How exactly does evenmin work here, and could I just use ook niet instead?
Yes, you could definitely say en hij ook niet. Evenmin means the exact same thing (neither or nor) but is slightly more formal. It is highly useful in writing and formal speech to add variety and avoid repeating ook niet constantly.
Why is the word order hij evenmin instead of evenmin hij?
In this shortened phrase where the verb is dropped (an ellipsis), the adverb evenmin comes directly after the subject pronoun hij. If you included the full verb phrase, you would usually use inversion: en evenmin eet hij het, but simply saying en hij evenmin is much more concise and common.
Why does rauw have an -e added to it to make rauwe?
Garnaal is a de word (de garnaal). When an adjective comes before a noun preceded by a definite article like de or het, the adjective gets an -e ending. This is why the base adjective rauw (raw) becomes rauwe.
Why is niet placed after de rauwe garnaal instead of before it?
In Dutch main clauses, niet is placed after specific, definite direct objects. Because you are talking about a specific shrimp (de rauwe garnaal rather than just a general noun like een garnaal), the negation niet must follow it rather than precede it.