Word
Wij hebben het bedrag betaald.
Meaning
We have paid the amount.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Wij hebben het bedrag betaald.
Why is the past participle betaald instead of gebetaald?
The verb is betalen (to pay). Because it starts with the unstressed prefix be-, you don't add the standard ge- to make the past participle. This rule applies to all inseparable verbs starting with prefixes like be-, ver-, ont-, and her-.
Why does betaald end with a -d rather than a -t?
This follows the 't kofschip (or soft ketchup) rule. If you take the -en off the infinitive betalen, the stem ends in l (betaal). Because l is not a consonant in 't kofschip, the past participle takes a -d instead of a -t.
Why is betaald placed at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch, when you use a helper verb like hebben (to have) to form the present perfect tense, the past participle (betaald) gets pushed all the way to the end of the clause. Literally, the sentence structure translates to "We have the amount paid."
Can I use bedrag for any "amount" of something?