Breakdown of Deze barcodes zijn tot en met donderdag te gebruiken.
zijn
to be
deze
this / these
donderdag
Thursday
gebruiken
to use
Questions & Answers about Deze barcodes zijn tot en met donderdag te gebruiken.
What if I just said tot donderdag instead of tot en met donderdag?
Using just tot donderdag (until Thursday) usually implies that the action stops before Thursday begins, meaning Wednesday would be the last valid day. By adding en met, you make it absolutely clear that Thursday is included in the timeframe.
Is there a common way to abbreviate tot en met in everyday life?
Yes, in written Dutch, especially on store signs, tickets, or informal texts, tot en met is very frequently abbreviated as t/m. You will often see phrases written as 'geldig t/m donderdag'.
Why does this sentence use zijn ... te gebruiken to mean "can be used"?
The structure of the verb zijn (to be) + te + an infinitive verb is a common way to express a passive possibility or obligation. Here, it means the barcodes are able to be used. It is a very natural-sounding, slightly formal alternative to the longer passive phrase kunnen worden gebruikt.
Why is te gebruiken placed at the very end of the sentence?
This follows standard Dutch word order rules. The main conjugated verb (zijn) takes the second position in the main clause, while the rest of the verbal block (in this case, the te + infinitive construction) gets pushed all the way to the end of the sentence.