Breakdown of Heeft de baas jouw salaris verhoogd?
hebben
to have
jouw
your
de baas
the boss
het salaris
the salary
verhogen
to raise
Questions & Answers about Heeft de baas jouw salaris verhoogd?
Why is the past participle verhoogd instead of geverhoogd?
The infinitive of the verb is verhogen (to raise or increase). Because it starts with the inseparable prefix ver-, it doesn't get the standard ge- prefix in the past participle. Verbs that start with unstressed prefixes like be-, ont-, and ver- simply use the prefix they already have.
How do we know verhoogd ends in a -d rather than a -t?
We use the 't kofschip (or soft ketchup) rule. If you take the infinitive verhogen and remove the -en, the stem ends in g (verhoog-). Because the letter g is not one of the consonants in 't kofschip, the past participle gets a -d.
Could I use je instead of jouw here?
Yes! Both je and jouw mean your. The word jouw is the stressed form, so using it places extra emphasis on the fact that it is your salary being raised, perhaps in contrast to a coworker's. If you were just asking neutrally, je would work perfectly well.
Why is verhoogd placed at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard Dutch word order for the present perfect tense. The helping verb (heeft) stays near the front of the sentence, and the past participle (verhoogd) is pushed all the way to the end, wrapping around the object (jouw salaris).
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