Mijn telefoon blijft knipperen, maar ik wil niet naar het scherm staren.

This is a very common Dutch pattern:

• blijven + infinitive = to keep doing something / to continue doing something

So:

• Mijn telefoon knippert = my phone is flashing / blinks
• Mijn telefoon blijft knipperen = my phone keeps flashing / continues flashing

Here, blijft is the finite verb, and knipperen stays in the infinitive at the end of the clause.

Knipperen usually means to blink or to flash.

It can be used for:

• eyes
• lights
• screens
• notification lights

In this sentence, it refers to the phone giving repeated visual signals, like a screen lighting up or a notification light flashing.

Because blijft already functions as the main finite verb of the clause.

The structure is:

• Mijn telefoon = subject
• blijft = finite verb
• knipperen = infinitive complement

So Dutch does not need an extra is here.

Because in Dutch main clauses with a finite verb plus another verb, the finite verb usually comes in the normal verb position, and the second verb goes to the end.

So:

• Mijn telefoon blijft knipperen
• subject: mijn telefoon
• finite verb: blijft
• infinitive: knipperen

This is very normal Dutch word order.

Compare:

• Ik wil slapen
• Hij kan zwemmen
• Wij blijven wachten

Because maar links two main clauses.

After maar, Dutch keeps normal main-clause word order:

• subject + finite verb

So:

• maar ik wil niet naar het scherm staren

That is different from subordinating conjunctions like omdat, where the verb goes later:

• ..., omdat ik niet naar het scherm wil staren

So maar does not push the verb to the end.

Here niet negates the action naar het scherm staren.

The structure is:

• ik wil = I want
• niet = not
• naar het scherm staren = to stare at the screen

So:

• ik wil niet naar het scherm staren = I do not want to stare at the screen

In Dutch, niet often comes before the part of the sentence it negates. Here it negates the whole infinitive phrase.

Because the verb is staren naar = to stare at.

The preposition naar is required with this meaning.

So:

• kijken naar = to look at
• staren naar = to stare at

You cannot normally just say het scherm staren in standard Dutch. The preposition is part of the verb pattern.

This is a useful vocabulary distinction:

• kijken = to look
• staren = to stare

Staren sounds stronger. It suggests looking fixedly, intensely, or for too long.

So in this sentence, staren gives the idea of not wanting to keep your eyes glued to the screen.

Because scherm is a het-word in Dutch.

So:

• het scherm
• een scherm

You simply have to learn the noun with its article:

• het scherm = the screen

Because the verb willen is irregular.

In the present tense:

• ik wil
• jij wilt or wil
• hij/zij/het wil
• wij willen
• jullie willen
• zij willen

So for ik, the correct form is always wil.

Yes. In everyday Dutch, that is completely natural.

Even if technically it is the screen or notification light that flashes, Dutch often uses the whole object as the subject:

• Mijn telefoon trilt
• Mijn telefoon piept
• Mijn telefoon knippert

This is the same kind of shorthand English uses too.

Yes. After modal-like verbs such as willen, the other verb usually appears in the infinitive at the end.

So:

• ik wil staren
• ik wil niet staren
• ik wil niet naar het scherm staren

This is the same pattern as:

• ik kan komen
• ik moet werken
• ik mag blijven

Yes, absolutely.

That would be more neutral:

• kijken = look

But staren is more expressive:

• staren = stare, gaze fixedly

So the original sentence sounds a bit stronger and more vivid. It suggests annoyance or mental fatigue from having to keep checking the screen.