Wij willen het risico niet aangaan.

not

Breakdown of Wij willen het risico niet aangaan.

• wij: we
• willen: to want
• het risico: the risk

Questions & Answers about Wij willen het risico niet aangaan.

What is the difference between wij and we? Could I also say We willen het risico niet aangaan?

Both wij and we mean we in English.

• wij = the stressed form. Used when you want to emphasize we (often in writing or when contrasting with others).
  • Wij willen het risico niet aangaan. → We (as opposed to others) don’t want to take the risk.
• we = the unstressed form. Much more common in everyday speech.
  • We willen het risico niet aangaan. → Neutral, no special emphasis.

In this sentence, both are grammatically correct. The choice is about emphasis and style, not grammar.

Why is it het risico and not de risico?

In Dutch, every noun has a grammatical gender: de-words or het-words.

• risico is a het-word:
  • singular, indefinite: een risico (a risk)
  • singular, definite: het risico (the risk)
  • plural: de risico’s (the risks)

So with the definite article in the singular, it must be het risico.
You just have to learn the gender; dictionaries usually mark this as het risico.

Why is aangaan written as one word here? Isn’t aan a separate word?