Breakdown of Het kleine onderdeel wordt in de machine gemonteerd.
klein
small
in
in
worden
to become
de machine
the machine
Questions & Answers about Het kleine onderdeel wordt in de machine gemonteerd.
Why is the verb wordt used here instead of is like in English ('is mounted')?
In Dutch, the present passive voice is formed using the auxiliary verb worden (to become), not zijn (to be). Even though English says 'is mounted', Dutch literally says 'becomes mounted' to show that the action is taking place right now.
Why is gemonteerd at the very end of the sentence?
In a passive sentence, the auxiliary verb (wordt) takes the second position, and the past participle (gemonteerd) gets pushed to the very end. This creates a 'verb bracket' that wraps around the rest of the information, which in this case is the location (in de machine).
Why does kleine have an '-e' on the end, even though onderdeel is a het word?
Because the definite article het (the) is right in front of it. You only drop the '-e' from the adjective before a het word when it is preceded by een (a) or no article at all. Since we are saying 'the' small part, the '-e' is required.
How do we know gemonteerd ends in a 'd' and not a 't'?
It follows the 't kofschip rule. The infinitive verb is monteren. If you remove the -en, the stem ends in 'r'. Because 'r' is not one of the voiceless consonants in 't kofschip, the past participle gets a 'd' instead of a 't' at the end.