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Questions & Answers about Vergeet de deadline niet.
Why is there no subject in the sentence?
Because vergeet is in the imperative mood, which by default addresses the second person jij (you). In Dutch imperatives you drop the subject pronoun, so Vergeet de deadline niet literally means “Don’t forget the deadline,” with the subject “you” understood but not spoken.
Why does the verb vergeet come first?
In Dutch imperatives the finite verb always comes first, followed by the object or other elements. That’s why you see Vergeet at the start, rather than the normal subject–verb word order you’d use in a statement.
What does niet modify here, and why is it placed at the end?
Niet negates the action of the verb phrase. When negating an imperative that has a direct object (here de deadline), niet usually comes after that object. So the basic order is: [Imperative verb] + [object] + [niet].
Why is it de deadline and not het deadline?
Deadline is a borrowed English word that is treated as a common gender noun in Dutch, so it takes the definite article de. Most loanwords ending in a consonant and referring to things or events default to common gender.
Could you use the plural deadlines instead?
Yes. If you want to tell someone not to forget multiple deadlines, you’d say Vergeet de deadlines niet. Notice the object changes to plural deadlines, but the structure stays the same.
What’s the difference between niet and geen, and why isn’t geen used here?
Use geen to negate nouns without a definite article or with an indefinite article. Here de deadline is definite, so you need niet to negate the action of forgetting. If you wanted to say “Don’t forget a deadline,” you could use geen: Vergeet geen deadline (no article needed).
Can you add emphasis or soften the command?
To soften it, you can add alsjeblieft: Vergeet de deadline niet, alsjeblieft. To make it stronger or more urgent, you might add an exclamation mark or intensifier: Vergeet de deadline écht niet!
How would you say it in the past tense or as a suggestion?
For past tense you’d use vergeet’s past form in a statement, not an imperative: Ik ben de deadline niet vergeten (I did not forget the deadline). As a suggestion (using zullen), you could say: Zullen we de deadline niet vergeten? (Shall we not forget the deadline?)