Word
Mijn broer is groot geworden.
Meaning
My brother has become big.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Mijn broer is groot geworden.
Why does this sentence use is instead of heeft when the English translation says 'has become'?
In Dutch, the present perfect tense uses either hebben (to have) or zijn (to be) as the helping verb. Verbs that describe a change of state, like worden (to become), always take zijn. So, a Dutch speaker literally says 'is become' rather than 'has become'.
Why is the word geworden at the very end of the sentence?
When you use the present perfect tense in Dutch, the helping verb (here, is) takes the normal second position in the sentence, but the past participle (here, geworden) gets sent all the way to the end of the sentence!
Does groot just mean physical size here?
It can mean tall or big, but the phrase groot worden is also the standard Dutch way to say 'to grow up'. So this sentence often translates naturally as 'My brother has grown up.'
How was the past participle geworden formed?
It comes from the infinitive verb worden (to become). Like many Dutch past participles, it gets a ge- added to the front. Because it is a strong (irregular) verb, it keeps the -en ending instead of taking a -t or -d.