Breakdown of Tijdens het werk wordt er vaak naar de radio geluisterd.
het werk
the work
naar
to
vaak
often
luisteren
to listen
worden
to become
er
there (existential)
tijdens
during
de radio
the radio
Questions & Answers about Tijdens het werk wordt er vaak naar de radio geluisterd.
The translation says "people often listen", but there is no word for "people" in the Dutch sentence. How does that work?
This sentence uses the impersonal passive voice. In Dutch, when you want to say an action happens in general without specifying who does it, you use wordt (is) + er (there) + the past participle. Literally, it translates to "there is often listened". This is the most natural way in Dutch to express that "people" do something.
Why is the word order wordt er instead of er wordt?
Because the sentence starts with the time phrase Tijdens het werk (During work). In a regular Dutch sentence, the conjugated verb must always be in the second position. Since the first position is taken by the time phrase, the verb wordt takes the second spot, pushing the dummy subject er to the third spot.
Why is there a naar before de radio?
In Dutch, the verb luisteren (to listen) is paired with the preposition naar (to). Just like in English you say "listen to the radio", in Dutch you say luisteren naar de radio. Remember that geluisterd is the past participle of luisteren.
Why is geluisterd placed at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch sentences with a helping verb and a past participle, the verbs split up. The helping verb (wordt) stays in the second position, and the past participle (geluisterd) is pushed to the very end of the sentence.
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