Breakdown of Ik hoop we brengen het weekend samen door.
ik
I
samen
together
het weekend
the weekend
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about Ik hoop we brengen het weekend samen door.
Why doesn't the verb go to the end of the sentence here, as it normally does after 'Ik hoop'?
This sentence demonstrates complementizer drop, which is common in spoken Dutch. By dropping the connecting word dat, the following clause acts like a standalone main clause. This means it uses V2 word order, keeping the verb in the second position (we brengen) instead of pushing it to the end.
How does dropping 'dat' affect the separable verb 'doorbrengen' in this sentence?
Because dropping dat forces the second half of the sentence into a standard main clause structure, the separable verb splits. The conjugated part (brengen) takes the second position, and the prefix (door) gets kicked all the way to the end. If we had kept dat, the verb would be whole at the end: Ik hoop dat we het weekend samen doorbrengen.
Is it acceptable to use this sentence structure in formal writing?
Generally, no. Dropping dat and using V2 word order in a sub-clause is a feature of informal spoken Dutch. In written or formal Dutch, you should stick to the standard structure with the conjunction and verb-final word order.
The English translation says 'we are spending', so why doesn't the Dutch use a continuous form?
Dutch relies on the simple present tense for future plans and intentions much more than English does. Using a continuous form like aan het doorbrengen zijn would sound unnatural here because you are expressing a hope for a future event, not an action you are currently in the middle of performing.