Word
Moest jij in de fabriek werken, of mocht je kiezen?
Meaning
Did you have to work in the factory, or were you allowed to choose?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Moest jij in de fabriek werken, of mocht je kiezen?
jij
you
werken
to work
in
in
mogen
to be allowed to / may
Questions & Answers about Moest jij in de fabriek werken, of mocht je kiezen?
How do we know Moest and mocht are in the past tense here?
Moest is the simple past of moeten (must / to have to), and mocht is the simple past of mogen (may / to be allowed to). If this sentence were in the present tense, it would use Moet and mag.
Why does the sentence use jij in the first half but je in the second half?
Using jij puts emphasis on the person, perhaps contrasting them with someone else. Switching to the unstressed je in the second half sounds more natural and avoids being too repetitive, since the emphasis is already clear.
Why is werken placed after in de fabriek?
When you use a modal verb like moest, it acts as the primary verb and pushes the main action verb (werken) all the way to the end of its clause.
Why does the second part start with the verb mocht?
The word of (or) links two separate questions together here. Just like the first question starts with the verb (Moest jij...), the second question also uses the standard yes/no question word order by putting the verb before the subject (mocht je...).