Breakdown of De software wordt door ons team gecontroleerd.
ons
our
controleren
to check
het team
the team
worden
to become
door
by (agent in a passive sentence)
de software
the software
Questions & Answers about De software wordt door ons team gecontroleerd.
Why do we use wordt here instead of is for 'is checked'?
In Dutch, the present tense passive voice uses the auxiliary verb worden (to become), not zijn (to be). We use wordt ... gecontroleerd because the action of checking is happening right now. If you used is gecontroleerd, it would mean the checking is already finished (translating to the present perfect 'has been checked').
Why is door used to mean 'by' in this context?
In passive sentences, the person or group performing the action is introduced with door (which means 'by' or 'through'). You cannot use bij or van for the actor in a passive sentence.
If I wanted to start this sentence with Bovendien (Moreover) from this lesson, how would the word order change?
If you put the connector Bovendien at the start of the sentence, it takes up the first position. Because Dutch requires verb-second (V2) word order in main clauses, the conjugated verb wordt must come immediately after it, followed by the subject de software. The sentence becomes: Bovendien wordt de software door ons team gecontroleerd.
Why is the word gecontroleerd separated from wordt and placed at the very end?
This is due to a Dutch sentence structure often called the 'verbal brace'. In a main clause, the conjugated verb (wordt) sits in the second position, but any past participles (gecontroleerd) are pushed to the very end of the clause, sandwiching the extra details like door ons team.
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