Breakdown of Mijn prullenbak is helemaal smerig geworden.
zijn
to be
mijn
my
helemaal
completely
worden
to become
de prullenbak
the trash can
smerig
filthy
Questions & Answers about Mijn prullenbak is helemaal smerig geworden.
In English we say 'has become', so why does the Dutch sentence use is instead of heeft?
The verb worden (to become) always uses zijn (to be) as its helping verb in the perfect tense, never hebben (to have). Because prullenbak is a singular noun, we use is. So literally, the Dutch sentence says 'is become' rather than 'has become'.
Why is geworden placed at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch main clauses, the perfect tense is split. The helping verb (is) takes the second position in the sentence, and the past participle (geworden) is pushed to the very end, wrapping around the other details like helemaal smerig.
What is the literal breakdown of the word prullenbak?
It is a compound noun. Een bak means a bin, box, or container. Prullen refers to small trash, junk, or useless knick-knacks (the plural of een prul). Put them together and you get a wastebasket or trash can.
Could I use helemaal here to mean 'the whole' trash can?
No, helemaal is an adverb meaning 'completely', 'totally', or 'entirely', which here describes how smerig (filthy) it is. If you wanted to describe the noun and say 'the whole trash can', you would use the adjective heel or hele, as in de hele prullenbak.
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