Breakdown of Waarom is de snelweg afgesloten?
zijn
to be
waarom
why
afsluiten
to close off
de snelweg
the highway
Questions & Answers about Waarom is de snelweg afgesloten?
Why does the Dutch sentence use is when the English translation says 'has been'?
This is how the present perfect passive voice works in Dutch. In English, we use 'has been' plus the past participle. In Dutch, the word for 'been' (geworden) is dropped. You simply use a form of zijn (to be) — which is is here — plus the past participle (afgesloten).
Could this sentence also mean 'Why is the highway closed off?'
Yes! Because the Dutch present perfect passive drops the word geworden (been), Waarom is de snelweg afgesloten? can refer to both the action that recently happened ('Why has the highway been closed off?') and the resulting current state ('Why is the highway closed off?').
How is the past participle afgesloten formed?
It comes from the separable verb afsluiten (to close off). When a separable verb is turned into a past participle, the ge- part gets sandwiched between the prefix (af-) and the rest of the verb (sloten). It is a strong (irregular) verb, which is why the vowel changes from 'ui' to 'o'.
Why is afgesloten placed at the very end of the sentence?
This follows the standard Dutch word order rule. The conjugated verb (is) sits in the second position of the sentence (right after the question word Waarom). This pushes any other verbs in the sentence—like the past participle afgesloten—to the very end.