Breakdown of De koerier moet de barcode scannen.
moeten
to have to, must
de koerier
the courier
de barcode
the barcode
scannen
to scan
Questions & Answers about De koerier moet de barcode scannen.
Why does the English loanword scannen have a double 'n' in Dutch?
When Dutch borrows an English verb, it applies Dutch spelling rules. Because the 'a' in "scan" is a short vowel, the consonant after it must be doubled before adding the -en ending. If it were written as scanen, the 'a' would incorrectly be pronounced as a long, open vowel.
Why doesn't this sentence use te before the infinitive scannen?
Because moet is a modal verb. In Dutch, modal verbs like moeten (must/have to), willen (want to), and kunnen (can) are followed directly by the main verb at the end of the sentence, without using te.
How can I remember whether it is de barcode or het barcode?
There are two helpful rules here! First, the vast majority of English loanwords in Dutch take de. Second, for compound nouns, the gender always matches the final part of the word. Since code is a de word, barcode is automatically de barcode.