Breakdown of De schoonmaker ververst het laken zonder dat er wordt geklaagd.
worden
to become
klagen
to complain
er
there (existential)
zonder dat
without (conjunction)
de schoonmaker
the cleaner
verversen
to change (refresh)
het laken
the sheet
Questions & Answers about De schoonmaker ververst het laken zonder dat er wordt geklaagd.
Why are the verbs at the end of the sentence after zonder dat?
Because zonder dat (without) is a subordinating conjunction. Just like omdat or dat, it introduces a subclause and forces all the verbs to the very end. That is why the auxiliary verb wordt and the past participle geklaagd are grouped together at the end of the sentence.
The English translation says 'without anyone complaining'. Where is the word for 'anyone' in the Dutch sentence?
There isn't one! Dutch is using an impersonal passive construction here. The phrase er wordt geklaagd literally translates to 'there is complained'. This is a very common way in Dutch to express that an action happens (or in this case, doesn't happen) generally, without specifying exactly who is doing it.
Could I say zonder dat iemand klaagt instead?
Yes, you absolutely could. The phrase zonder dat iemand klaagt is an active sentence and translates directly to 'without anyone complaining'. The passive version used in this sentence (zonder dat er wordt geklaagd) just puts even less focus on the specific people involved and more on the sheer fact that no complaints are made.
Why does the cleaner use ververst instead of verandert for changing the sheets?
Veranderen means to alter or modify the nature of something, like changing your mind or changing the rules of a game. Verversen comes from the word vers (fresh) and means to renew something or make it fresh again. You use it for changing bed sheets, renewing water in a fish tank, or changing the oil in a car.
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