Breakdown of Hij dwingt mij om op geen enkel voertuig te schieten.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
op
on
mij
me
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
dwingen
to force
geen enkel
not a single / no ... whatsoever (also geen enkele)
het voertuig
the vehicle
schieten
to shoot
Questions & Answers about Hij dwingt mij om op geen enkel voertuig te schieten.
How does the grammar show who is doing the shooting in this sentence?
The main verb dwingen (to force) takes a direct object, which is mij (me) here. This object acts as the "doer" (or semantic subject) of the following infinitive clause. So, he is doing the forcing, but I am the one who is supposed to (not) shoot.
Can I leave out the word om in this sentence?
Yes, with verbs of ordering or forcing like dwingen, the om is technically optional. You could correctly say Hij dwingt mij op geen enkel voertuig te schieten. However, keeping om is very common and helps clearly frame the start of the infinitive clause.
Why is "not to shoot at any vehicle" translated with geen enkel instead of using niet?
When negating an indefinite noun (like "a vehicle" or "any vehicle"), Dutch uses geen instead of niet. To emphasize "not any" or "not a single", Dutch adds enkel to make geen enkel voertuig. Using a literal English translation like niet op enig voertuig would sound very unnatural to a Dutch speaker.
Why does the preposition op come right after om?
The verb schieten requires the preposition op to mean "to shoot at". In an om ... te clause, all the extra information—including the prepositional phrase op geen enkel voertuig—must be sandwiched between om and the te + infinitive cluster at the very end.
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