Breakdown of Een smaakvolle edelsteen is hem nooit te duur.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
duur
expensive
te
too
nooit
never
hem
him
de edelsteen
the gemstone
smaakvol
tasteful
Questions & Answers about Een smaakvolle edelsteen is hem nooit te duur.
Why is it hem instead of voor hem in this sentence?
This sentence uses a dative complement. With evaluative adjectives (like duur, moeilijk, or duidelijk), Dutch can drop the preposition voor and use the object pronoun (hem) directly. Saying is hem nooit te duur is a common, slightly more elegant way to express "is never too expensive for him" compared to is nooit te duur voor hem.
Is the word te (too) important for this specific grammar structure?
Yes, the word te very frequently triggers this preposition-less dative structure. When something is "too [adjective]" for someone, Dutch readily connects the person (hem) directly to that state. You will see this often in common expressions like het is me te veel (it is too much for me) or dat is haar te gek (that is too crazy for her).
Why is the pronoun hem placed right after the verb and before nooit?
In Dutch word order, specific object pronouns like hem want to sit as close to the finite verb (is) as possible, usually preceding adverbs like nooit. If you had chosen to use the prepositional phrase (voor hem), it would typically be pushed to the end of the clause: Een smaakvolle edelsteen is nooit te duur voor hem.
Could I use smakelijke instead of smaakvolle for "tasteful"?
Definitely not! While both adjectives stem from smaak (taste), smakelijk means "tasty" in a literal, edible sense (like food). Smaakvol means "tasteful" in an aesthetic or stylistic sense. Unless he plans on eating the gemstone, you must use smaakvolle.
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