Breakdown of De politie blokkeert de straat wegens het incident.
de straat
the street
de politie
the police
wegens
due to (formal)
blokkeren
to block
het incident
the incident
Questions & Answers about De politie blokkeert de straat wegens het incident.
Why do we use wegens here instead of omdat?
Wegens is a preposition meaning 'due to' or 'because of', so it is simply followed by a noun phrase (het incident). Omdat is a conjunction meaning 'because', which would require a full clause with a subject and a verb (for example: omdat er een incident is).
Could I use vanwege instead of wegens in this sentence?
Yes! Wegens and vanwege are almost entirely interchangeable when they mean 'due to' or 'because of'. Wegens can sound slightly more formal or official, which fits well with police or news reports, but vanwege het incident would also be perfectly correct here.
The English translation says 'The police are blocking', but the Dutch verb blokkeert is singular. Why?
In English, 'police' is treated as a plural noun ('the police are'). In Dutch, however, de politie is a singular collective noun, just like 'the team' or 'the family'. Therefore, it takes the singular verb form blokkeert.
Why does the verb blokkeert have a double 'k' and a double 'e'?
The infinitive is blokkeren. When we make the stem (blokkeer), we have to double the 'e' to keep the vowel sound long. The double 'k' is there to keep the preceding 'o' short. Because de politie is singular (a 'he/she/it' form), we just add a '-t' to that stem to get blokkeert.
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