De minderheid durft niet hardop te spreken.

The minority doesn’t dare to speak aloud.

Breakdown of De minderheid durft niet hardop te spreken.

• niet: not
• spreken: to speak
• hardop: aloud
• durven: to dare
• de minderheid: the minority

Questions & Answers about De minderheid durft niet hardop te spreken.

Why is the article de used with minderheid instead of het?

In Dutch, most one-syllable and many two-syllable nouns take de rather than het, regardless of their meaning. Minderheid (“minority”) is one of those de-words. You can also say een minderheid (“a minority”), but when you specify the minority, you use de minderheid.

Why is the verb durft singular here?

Because de minderheid is treated as a single collective noun. Even though it refers to a group of people, grammatically it’s singular. That’s why you say de minderheid durft (3rd person singular), not durven (plural).

How does durven work with another verb here?

Durven is a modal verb meaning “to dare.” In Dutch, modal verbs are followed by te + infinitive when forming an infinitive clause. So:

• durft (3rd person sg)
• te spreken (“to speak”)

Together: durft … te spreken (“dares to speak”).

Why is niet placed before hardop and te spreken, and why is hardop there?

Word order in Dutch infinitive clauses is:

1. niet (negates the clause)
2. any adverbs (here hardop)
3. te
   • infinitive (spreken) at the end

Hardop means “out loud” or “aloud.” Putting niet before hardop means “doesn’t dare to speak out loud.” If you omitted hardop, it would simply mean “doesn’t dare to speak” at all, which is slightly different.

Could I say De minderheid durft niet te spreken without hardop?

Yes, you can. That sentence means “The minority doesn’t dare to speak” (in general, perhaps at all). Adding hardop emphasizes “out loud,” so niet hardop te spreken is more specific: they maybe think, but won’t vocalize it.

What’s the difference between spreken and praten in Dutch?

Both mean “to speak,” but:

• spreken is a bit more formal or general (“to speak a language,” “to address a crowd”).
• praten is more informal (“to chat,” “to talk”).

In this sentence, spreken fits better because it refers to speaking aloud in a possibly formal or public setting.

Why not use the reflexive zich uitspreken (“sich uitspreken”) here?

Zich uitspreken means “to express one’s opinion” or “to speak out on a matter.” If you said De minderheid durft zich niet uit te spreken, it would emphasize “doesn’t dare to state its opinion.” That’s fine if you mean they fear expressing views. But spreken alone simply means “to speak (aloud).”

Can I say De minderheid durft niet om hardop te spreken?

No, with durven you don’t use om before te. The correct structure is always durven + te + infinitive. Adding om would be ungrammatical here.