Breakdown of Het loon kon er niet worden uitbetaald.
niet
not
kunnen
can
worden
to become
er
there (in that place)
Questions & Answers about Het loon kon er niet worden uitbetaald.
How is the past passive formed with the modal verb in this sentence?
The modal verb kunnen is in the simple past tense (kon). Because it is a modal verb, it pushes the passive construction to the end of the sentence. The passive part itself is made of the infinitive worden (to be) and the past participle uitbetaald (paid out).
Does the order of worden and uitbetaald matter at the end?
In a passive sentence with a modal verb, you can place worden either before or after the past participle. Both worden uitbetaald and uitbetaald worden are perfectly fine, though the order shown in this sentence is slightly more common in written Dutch.
Why is the English translation plural (wages) when Het loon is singular?
Dutch typically uses the singular word het loon to mean a person's pay or salary. English frequently uses the plural word wages to describe the exact same concept.
What is er doing in this sentence?
Here, er means there as an unstressed location. It tells us the wages could not be paid at that specific place. If you wanted to put strong emphasis on the location, you would use daar instead.