Breakdown of Is deze antieke kast nog te restaureren?
zijn
to be
deze
this / these
de kast
the cabinet / the closet
nog
still, yet / more, another (with a quantity)
te
to (infinitive marker)
antiek
antique
restaureren
to restore
Questions & Answers about Is deze antieke kast nog te restaureren?
Why use is ... te restaureren instead of kan worden gerestaureerd?
The structure zijn + te + infinitive is a common and concise way to express whether something can be done (often called the passive potential). While you could grammatically say Kan deze kast nog worden gerestaureerd?, using is ... te restaureren is very natural in Dutch for asking if something is "restorable" or "able to be fixed."
Could I use vallen instead of zijn in this sentence?
Yes! You could say Valt deze antieke kast nog te restaureren?. Both zijn + te + infinitive and vallen + te + infinitive express that a task is possible. Using vallen here slightly emphasizes the practical feasibility of the task (meaning "Is it doable?").
Why does antiek get an -e at the end in antieke kast?
Kast is a de-word (de kast). Whenever an adjective comes in front of a de-word, it almost always gets an -e added to the end. This is especially true here because it follows a specific pointer word, deze (this).
Why is nog placed where it is in the sentence?
To form this yes/no question, the main verb (is) jumps to the front, and the rest of the verbal cluster (te restaureren) goes to the very end of the sentence. Adverbs like nog (still) are placed in the "middle field" of the sentence, immediately before that final verb cluster.
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