De politie gaf het bevel om de snelweg af te sluiten.
The police gave the order to close the highway.
Breakdown of De politie gaf het bevel om de snelweg af te sluiten.
geven
to give
de politie
the police
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
Questions & Answers about De politie gaf het bevel om de snelweg af te sluiten.
How does this sentence show a reported command?
Instead of using a reporting verb like zeiden (said) or vroegen (asked) with a dat (that) clause, this sentence uses a noun phrase: gaf het bevel (gave the order). The content of the order is then explained using an om ... te infinitive clause.
Why is te stuck in the middle of af te sluiten?
Afsluiten (to close or shut off) is a separable verb. When you use a separable verb in an infinitive construction, the word te is placed between the prefix (af) and the root verb (sluiten), and they are written as three separate words.
Why is the verb singular (gaf) when English treats 'police' as plural?
In Dutch, politie is a singular collective noun. Unlike in English where 'the police' usually takes a plural verb, Dutch treats the police force as a single entity, so it takes the singular past tense verb gaf instead of the plural gaven.
Could I report this command using a dat clause instead of om ... te?
Yes, but you would have to introduce an explicit subject and a modal verb. For example: De politie gaf het bevel dat ze de snelweg moesten afsluiten (The police gave the order that they had to close the highway). The om ... te structure is much more concise when you do not need to specify exactly who is carrying out the order.