Word
Enkelen durven als individu af te wijken.
Meaning
A few people dare to deviate as an individual.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Enkelen durven als individu af te wijken.
als
as (like / conjunction)
te
to (infinitive marker)
durven
to dare
enkele
a few, several
Questions & Answers about Enkelen durven als individu af te wijken.
Why does Enkelen have an -n at the end here?
Because it stands alone as a pronoun referring to people, meaning "a few people." When words like enkel, ander, or sommig are used independently to refer to humans, they get an -n ending. If they refer to things or are directly followed by a noun like enkele mensen, they drop the -n.
Why is te placed in the middle of af te wijken?
The full infinitive is afwijken (to deviate), which is a separable verb. When a separable verb is used in a te + infinitive construction (which is required here by the verb durven), the word te is sandwiched right between the prefix af and the core verb wijken.
The subject Enkelen is plural, so why does the sentence use the singular als individu?
While English might say "as individuals," Dutch often prefers the singular noun after als to emphasize the role or capacity of each person on a one-by-one basis. They dare to deviate in their capacity as a single individual.
Can I use een paar instead of enkelen here?