Breakdown of Het fietspad is deze week aangelegd.
zijn
to be
deze
this / these
de week
the week
aanleggen
to construct
het fietspad
the bicycle path
Questions & Answers about Het fietspad is deze week aangelegd.
I see is, but the translation says "has been". Why doesn't it use heeft or include a word for "been"?
In Dutch, the present perfect passive (like "has been constructed") is formed using the auxiliary verb zijn (to be) plus the past participle (aangelegd). Unlike English, you don't use hebben (to have), and you completely drop the word for "been" (geworden). So, is ... aangelegd literally looks like "is constructed" to an English speaker, but it translates as "has been constructed".
Why does the past participle aangelegd have ge right in the middle?
The infinitive of the verb is aanleggen (to construct or to lay out). Because it is a separable verb consisting of the prefix aan and the base verb leggen, the ge is inserted between them to form the past participle: aan + ge + legd.
Why is aangelegd pushed all the way to the end of the sentence?
This follows the standard Dutch word order rule often called the verb brace or verb sandwich. The conjugated verb (is) takes the second position in the sentence, while any additional verbs, like the past participle aangelegd, are sent to the very end of the clause.
Why do we say deze week and not dit week?
Week is a de-word (de week). When pointing out a specific de-word, "this" is always translated as deze. You only use dit for het-words (for example, dit fietspad for "this bicycle path").
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