Breakdown of Waarom heb je het nieuws vorige week niet gelezen?
niet
not
hebben
to have
lezen
to read
waarom
why
de week
the week
het nieuws
the news
vorig
previous / last
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
Questions & Answers about Waarom heb je het nieuws vorige week niet gelezen?
Why is the past participle of lezen written as gelezen?
Lezen (to read) is an irregular verb. Regular past participles usually end in -t or -d, but many common irregular verbs keep the -en ending instead. You just have to memorize that the past participle of lezen is gelezen.
Why is gelezen placed at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch, when you use a two-part verb for the past tense (here: heb ... gelezen), the helping verb (heb) stays near the beginning, and the past participle (gelezen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why is it heb je and not hebt je?
Normally, the 'you' form is je hebt. But there is a special rule for the pronouns je and jij: when you invert the word order to ask a question so that the verb comes first, the verb drops its -t. That is why it becomes heb je.
Why is niet placed right before gelezen?
The word niet (not) usually moves as far toward the end of the sentence as it can. However, it must come before any verbs that are pushed to the end. Since the past participle gelezen is at the very end, niet steps right in front of it.
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