Breakdown of Niet alleen de claim, maar ook het bewijs ontbrak.
ook
also / -ever (concessive particle)
niet
not
maar
but
alleen
alone; only
Questions & Answers about Niet alleen de claim, maar ook het bewijs ontbrak.
Why is the verb ontbrak singular? Aren't there two things missing (the claim and the proof)?
When using the structure niet alleen... maar ook... (not only... but also...), the verb generally agrees with the subject closest to it. Here, the closest subject is the singular het bewijs, so the verb takes the singular form ontbrak.
Is claim an English loanword, and what gender is it?
Yes, de claim is borrowed directly from English. Like many English loanwords in Dutch, it is a de-word. It means an assertion, demand, or legal claim, and it's pronounced essentially the same as in English.
How does the word order work with such a long phrase at the start?
The entire phrase Niet alleen de claim, maar ook het bewijs acts as a single, complex subject. Because this entire chunk occupies the first position in the sentence, the verb ontbrak immediately follows it in the second position to satisfy the strict Dutch V2 (verb-second) rule.
Could I use a form of missen instead of ontbrak to mean 'was missing'?
Not in this context. Ontbreken is used when something is absent, lacking, or nonexistent. Missen is used for emotionally missing someone (like a friend), or for failing to catch or hit something (like missing a train or a target).