Breakdown of De beslissing wordt door de overheid aangekondigd.
de beslissing
the decision
worden
to become
door
by (agent in a passive sentence)
de overheid
the government (public authorities)
aankondigen
to announce
Questions & Answers about De beslissing wordt door de overheid aangekondigd.
Since the English translation says "is announced", why does the Dutch sentence use wordt instead of is?
The current lesson covers volgens and namens. Why do we use door here?
Door (by) is used in passive sentences to show exactly who is performing the action. If you used namens de overheid, it would mean the announcement was made on behalf of the government by someone else. If you used volgens de overheid, it would mean according to the government (treating them as a source of information, not the direct doer).
Why is the ge placed in the middle of aangekondigd?
The infinitive verb is aankondigen (to announce). Because it is a separable verb, the past participle is formed by wedging the ge- between the separable prefix (aan) and the main part of the verb (kondigen), resulting in aangekondigd.
Why does aangekondigd appear at the very end of the sentence?
This follows the standard Dutch word order rule for compound verbs. The conjugated helping verb (wordt) takes the second position in the sentence, pushing the other verb part—the past participle (aangekondigd)—all the way to the end.
Learn De beslissing wordt door de overheid aangekondigd 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