Word
De torens werden door de koning ontworpen.
Meaning
The towers were designed by the king.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De torens werden door de koning ontworpen.
worden
to become
de toren
the tower
ontwerpen
to design
door
by (agent in a passive sentence)
Questions & Answers about De torens werden door de koning ontworpen.
Why do we use werden here instead of werd?
Werden is the simple past plural form of the auxiliary verb worden. We use the plural form because the subject, de torens (the towers), is plural. Together with the past participle ontworpen, it forms the simple past passive voice.
How do you express who did the action in a passive sentence?
You use the preposition door, which translates to the English word by in this context. Here, door de koning tells us exactly who designed the towers.
Why doesn't the past participle ontworpen start with ge-?
The infinitive of the verb is ontwerpen (to design). Because it starts with the unstressed prefix ont-, it is an inseparable verb. Inseparable verbs never get a ge- added to their past participle.
Why is ontworpen at the very end of the sentence?
This follows standard Dutch word order. In a main clause, the conjugated verb (here, the auxiliary werden) takes the second position, and any other verbs (like the past participle ontworpen) are pushed to the very end of the sentence.