Hij zal de tafel niet aanraken omdat er veel geld op ligt.

He will not touch the table because there is a lot of money on it.

Breakdown of Hij zal de tafel niet aanraken omdat er veel geld op ligt.

• niet: not
• hij: he
• de tafel: the table
• liggen: to lie
• veel: a lot
• zullen: will
• het geld: the money
• omdat: because
• er: there
• aanraken: to touch

Questions & Answers about Hij zal de tafel niet aanraken omdat er veel geld op ligt.

Why is zal used instead of something like gaat for the future tense?

In Dutch, zal and gaat can both express the future, but zal is often used in more formal or neutral contexts. Gaat tends to be more conversational or informal. Both forms are correct, but this sentence uses zal to emphasize a straightforward prediction rather than a more immediate plan.

Why does the word niet come after de tafel but before aanraken?

In Dutch sentence structure, niet typically appears after the direct object (in this case, de tafel) but before the main verb or full verb phrase (here, aanraken). This placement follows the basic rule of Dutch negation, where niet generally goes after the specific elements it’s meant to negate.

What does er mean in omdat er veel geld op ligt?

In Dutch, er can serve as a placeholder that often indicates existence or location when combined with certain verbs or prepositional phrases. Here, er is linked to veel geld op ligt (“a lot of money is lying on (the table)”). It’s similar to saying “there is a lot of money on it” in English.

Why do we use ligt instead of is for the money on the table?

In Dutch, liggen, zitten, staan, and hangen can replace zijn to give more nuance about how something is positioned. Ligt suggests that the money is lying flat on the table. If you used is, it wouldn’t specify the position as clearly, just the existence of money on the table.

How do I know when to use omdat instead of want?

Omdat introduces a subordinate clause that explains a reason and affects the word order by pushing the conjugated verb to the end of that clause. Want (meaning “because” as well) does not change the typical word order. In a sentence like this, omdat emphasizes the reason by creating a subordinate clause. If you used want, the structure would be more like Hij zal de tafel niet aanraken, want er ligt veel geld op (keeping the normal word order). Both are correct, but omdat is typically more formal.