Breakdown of De rotonde is onlangs vernieuwd.
zijn
to be
onlangs
recently
de rotonde
the roundabout
vernieuwen
to renew
Questions & Answers about De rotonde is onlangs vernieuwd.
Why does this sentence use is when the English translation says "has been"?
In Dutch, the present perfect passive voice is formed simply with the auxiliary verb zijn (here, is) and the past participle (vernieuwd). Unlike English, you don't need to add an extra word for "been" (like geworden). Dutch essentially just says "The roundabout is recently renewed."
Why doesn't the past participle vernieuwd start with ge-?
The infinitive of this verb is vernieuwen, which starts with the unstressed prefix ver-. When a verb already starts with a prefix like ver-, be-, ont-, or ge-, it never gets an extra ge- added to its past participle.
Why does vernieuwd end in a -d instead of a -t?
This follows the 't kofschip rule. If you remove the -en from the infinitive vernieuwen, the stem ends in a w. Since the letter w is not one of the consonants in 't kofschip, the past participle gets a -d.
Where should I place an adverb like onlangs in sentences like this?
onlangs (recently) is an adverb of time. When you have an auxiliary verb (is) and a past participle (vernieuwd), they form a "verb frame". The auxiliary verb takes the second position in the sentence, the past participle is pushed to the very end, and adverbs like onlangs are placed safely inside that frame.
Learn De rotonde is onlangs vernieuwd and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free