Breakdown of De arbeiders wilden staken, dus het loon moest meteen worden uitbetaald.
willen
to want
moeten
to have to, must
meteen
immediately
worden
to become
dus
so, therefore
het loon
the wage
de arbeider
the worker
uitbetalen
to pay out
staken
to strike
Questions & Answers about De arbeiders wilden staken, dus het loon moest meteen worden uitbetaald.
Why do we use worden uitbetaald with moest to say "had to be paid"?
To form the passive voice with a modal verb, Dutch uses the modal verb conjugated for the subject (moest) plus the infinitive worden (to be) and the past participle of the action verb (uitbetaald). Because this is a main clause, the modal verb takes the normal second position, and the other verbs (worden uitbetaald) are pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why is the past participle uitbetaald instead of uitgebetaald?
The verb is uitbetalen (to pay out), which is a separable verb. Normally, separable verbs get a -ge- sandwiched in the middle for the past participle, like uitgenodigd. However, verbs that start with unstressed prefixes like be-, ge-, ver-, or ont- never get a ge- in their past participle. Since betalen becomes betaald, the separable verb uitbetalen simply becomes uitbetaald.
Why is the word order normal (subject then verb) after dus?
In this sentence, dus (so or therefore) acts as a coordinating conjunction linking two main clauses, just like en (and) or maar (but). Coordinating conjunctions do not change the word order, which is why the second clause starts normally with the subject (het loon) followed directly by the conjugated verb (moest).
Why is het loon singular here when the English translation says "wages"?
In Dutch, het loon (the wage or salary) is usually kept singular when talking about pay as a general concept, even when it applies to a large group of workers. English tends to use the plural word "wages" for hourly or daily pay. You could technically say de lonen, but the singular form sounds very natural in this context.
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