Restoring the Neighborhood
When discussing urban regeneration, you will often talk about saving historical sites or dealing with neglected structures.
| The historical heritage is important for the city. | Het historische erfgoed is belangrijk voor de stad. |
| The decayed factory will become a modern office. | De vervallen fabriek zal een modern kantoor worden. |
The Prefix ont- (Reversal and Removal)
To express reversal, removal, or deprivation, Dutch uses the prefix ont-. It works just like the English prefixes "un-", "de-", or "dis-".
| The workers are dismantling the scaffolding. | De arbeiders ontmantelen de steiger. |
| We have to dismantle the dangerous machine. | We moeten de gevaarlijke machine ontmantelen. |
Grammar note: Verbs starting with ont- and her- are inseparable. The prefix never splits from the root verb, and their past participles do not take a ge- prefix (e.g., ontmanteld, herbouwd).
The Prefix her- (Repetition)
To indicate that an action is being repeated, attach the prefix her-. This translates directly to the English prefix "re-".
| The mayor said that they would rebuild the center. | De burgemeester zei dat ze het centrum zouden herbouwen. |
You can attach her- to a wide variety of verbs to describe bringing an area back to life:
| Provided that we rebuild the square, the area will revive. | Mits we het plein herbouwen, zal het gebied herleven. |
| We must revalue the traditional architecture. | We moeten de traditionele architectuur herwaarderen. |
| The young residents rediscover the old traditions. | De jonge bewoners herontdekken de oude tradities. |
Deprivation and Escape
The prefix ont- isn't limited to physical actions like dismantling. It is frequently used in a more abstract sense to indicate depriving someone of something or breaking away from a situation.
| They want to deprive the residents of their rights. | Ze willen de bewoners hun rechten ontnemen. |
| Many people flee the decayed neighborhood. | Veel mensen ontvluchten de vervallen wijk. |
