Anna kan het voorstel niet accepteren zonder extra informatie.

Anna kan het voorstel niet accepteren zonder extra informatie.
Anna cannot accept the proposal without extra information.
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Questions & Answers about Anna kan het voorstel niet accepteren zonder extra informatie.

Why does the sentence end with accepteren, and why is niet placed right before it instead of earlier?

In Dutch main clauses with a modal verb (kan), the structure is:

  1. Subject – Anna
  2. Finite verb (modal) – kan
  3. Object – het voorstel
  4. Negation – niet
  5. Main verb (infinitive) – accepteren

Because of this rule, the infinitive accepteren is pushed to the end, and niet comes immediately before it to negate the action “to accept.”

How do I know to use het with voorstel, and when would I use de instead?
Dutch nouns are either common gender (take de) or neuter (take het) in the singular. Voorstel is a neuter noun, so it takes het. You often have to learn each noun’s gender or check a dictionary. All plural nouns—whether they were de or het in the singular—take de.
Why isn’t there a preposition before accepteren het voorstel? In English we say “accept of something.”
The Dutch verb accepteren is a transitive verb, just like English “accept”, but in Dutch it takes its object directly without a preposition. So you say accepteren iets (to accept something), not accepteren van iets.
What does zonder mean, and why is it placed before extra informatie?
Zonder means “without.” It introduces what is lacking for the action to happen. In Dutch you put zonder directly before the noun or noun phrase: zonder extra informatie = “without extra information.”
Why isn’t there a te in zonder extra informatie, like “zonder te informatie”?

You use zonder te + infinitive only when you’re negating an action, not a thing. For example:

  • Zij vertrok zonder iets te zeggen.
    But if you’re missing a thing or piece of information, you just say zonder + noun. Adding te before a noun would be ungrammatical.
In English we often say “without having extra information.” Why doesn’t Dutch say zonder extra informatie te hebben?
You can say it—Anna kan het voorstel niet accepteren zonder extra informatie te hebben—but it’s redundant in Dutch. If zonder is followed by a noun that implies possession (here: information you’d have), you drop the te + infinitive. It’s more concise to just say zonder extra informatie.
Can I also say Anna kan het voorstel niet accepteren zonder meer informatie instead of extra informatie?
Yes, zonder meer informatie is grammatically correct. The nuance is slight: extra informatie (“additional information”) implies you need something extra beyond what you already have, while meer informatie (“more information”) simply means a larger amount. Both will be understood.
Could I move zonder extra informatie to the beginning of the sentence?

Absolutely. Dutch allows you to front adverbial phrases for emphasis. You can say:
Zonder extra informatie kan Anna het voorstel niet accepteren.
You still keep the finite verb kan in second position, so the structure remains correct.