Breakdown of Het onderhoud aan het riool mag niet worden vergeten.
niet
not
mogen
to be allowed to / may
vergeten
to forget
worden
to become
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
het riool
the sewer
het onderhoud
the maintenance
Questions & Answers about Het onderhoud aan het riool mag niet worden vergeten.
How does the present passive work with the modal verb in this sentence?
The modal verb mag takes the second position in the sentence. To make it passive, we need the helper verb worden (to be). Because there is a modal verb, worden is pushed to the very end of the sentence as an infinitive, joining the past participle vergeten.
Could I change the order of the verbs at the end and say vergeten worden instead?
Yes, you can. When an infinitive (worden) and a past participle (vergeten) group together at the end of a clause, their order is flexible. Both worden vergeten and vergeten worden are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.
Why does vergeten look like an infinitive if this is a passive sentence? Shouldn't it have a ge- prefix?
It is actually a past participle here! The verb vergeten is an inseparable verb because it starts with the prefix ver-, so it does not get an extra ge- in the past participle. For this specific strong verb, the infinitive and the past participle happen to be exactly the same word.
Why do we use the preposition aan for 'maintenance on'?
In Dutch, the fixed preposition for doing maintenance or work 'on' an object is aan. You will see this often in phrases like onderhoud aan het huis (maintenance on the house) or werken aan (working on).
Does mag niet mean 'might not' or 'must not' here?
It translates best to 'must not' or 'is not allowed to'. The verb mogen expresses permission. When negated as mag niet, it means permission is denied. In English, 'may not' can sometimes mean 'might not' (a possibility), but in Dutch, mag niet is always about rules and permission.
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