Breakdown of Iedere aanwezige medewerker moet een stoel klaarzetten.
een
a/an
de stoel
the chair
moeten
to have to, must
klaarzetten
to set ready
ieder
every / each
aanwezig
present
de medewerker
the employee
Questions & Answers about Iedere aanwezige medewerker moet een stoel klaarzetten.
Why is it iedere and not ieder here?
Medewerker is a de-word (de medewerker). When you use ieder with a de-word, it gets an -e at the end, becoming iedere. If it were a het-word, like het bureau (the desk), you would use ieder bureau.
Could I use elke instead of iedere in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! Elke aanwezige medewerker means exactly the same thing. Ieder(e) and elk(e) are almost always interchangeable. Some native speakers feel ieder(e) sounds a tiny bit more focused on individuals, which fits well with people, but using elke is perfectly correct here.
Why does aanwezige have an -e at the end?
Adjectives get an -e ending when they come before a noun, unless they modify a het-word preceded by an indefinite article (like een). Since medewerker is a de-word, the adjective gets the standard -e ending: aanwezige. Words like iedere and elke act similarly to the word de, guaranteeing that -e ending.
What kind of verb is klaarzetten and why is it at the very end of the sentence?
Klaarzetten is a separable verb meaning 'to set up' or 'to prepare' (literally 'to set ready'). Because there is a modal verb in this sentence (moet, meaning 'must'), the second verb gets pushed to the very end of the clause in its full infinitive form. When it is in the full infinitive, the prefix (klaar) and the base verb (zetten) are written together as one single word.
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