Breakdown of Je wacht omdat het materiaal wordt gesneden.
wachten
to wait
worden
to become
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
omdat
because (subordinating)
het materiaal
the material
snijden
to cut
Questions & Answers about Je wacht omdat het materiaal wordt gesneden.
Why does this sentence use wordt instead of is for "is being cut"?
In Dutch, the present passive voice (an action happening right now) uses the auxiliary verb worden, not zijn (to be). If you said het materiaal is gesneden, it would mean the cutting is already finished (the material has been cut).
Why are the verbs wordt and gesneden pushed all the way to the end of the sentence?
The word omdat (because) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a sub-clause and forces all the verbs in that specific clause to move to the very end.
What is the dictionary form of gesneden?
The infinitive is snijden (to cut). It is an irregular (strong) verb, which is why the vowel changes from "ij" to "e" to form the past participle gesneden.
Could I change the verb order at the end to ...omdat het materiaal gesneden wordt?
Yes! At the end of a subordinate clause, you can put the auxiliary verb (wordt) before the past participle (gesneden), or the other way around. Both word orders are completely correct and natural in Dutch.
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