Breakdown of De gokker raadt dat kleine casino af.
klein
small
dat
that (het-words)
het casino
the casino
afraden
to advise against
de gokker
the gambler
Questions & Answers about De gokker raadt dat kleine casino af.
If I wanted to add 'me' to this sentence and then make it passive, how does that work in Dutch?
To say 'The gambler advises me against that small casino', you say De gokker raadt mij dat kleine casino af. In English, you can make 'me' the subject of a passive sentence ('I am advised against...'), but Dutch restricts this. The indirect object (mij) cannot become the subject. You have to make the direct object the subject instead: Dat kleine casino wordt mij door de gokker afgeraden.
The verb here is afraden, but doesn't raden mean 'to guess'?
Yes, on its own raden usually means to guess. However, when combined with prefixes, it relates to giving advice. Aanraden means to recommend or advise in favor of something, while afraden means to advise against it.
Since casino is a het word, shouldn't it be dat klein casino without the -e?
No, you only drop the -e for adjectives before het words when the noun is indefinite, meaning it follows een, geen, or no article at all. Because dat is a definite demonstrative word pointing to a specific casino, the adjective keeps the standard -e ending.
Where does the word af come from at the end of the sentence?
It is the prefix of the separable verb afraden. In a standard main clause, the conjugated part of the verb (raadt) takes the second position, and the separable prefix (af) moves to the very end of the clause.
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