Breakdown of De kapotte machine is onbruikbaar geworden.
zijn
to be
worden
to become
kapot
broken
de machine
the machine
onbruikbaar
unusable
Questions & Answers about De kapotte machine is onbruikbaar geworden.
Why does the sentence use is instead of heeft for "has become"?
The verb worden (to become) is a verb of state change. In the perfect tense, it always takes zijn (to be) as its auxiliary verb, never hebben (to have). Therefore, "has become" translates directly to is geworden.
Why is the word kapot spelled here as kapotte?
Because machine is a de-word, the adjective in front of it gets an -e ending. To keep the short "o" sound of kapot when adding this -e, Dutch spelling rules require doubling the final consonant, resulting in kapotte.
How is the adjective onbruikbaar formed?
It is built from the verb gebruiken (to use). The suffix -baar means "-able" (making bruikbaar for "usable"), and the prefix on- makes it negative, creating onbruikbaar (unusable).
Why does geworden go at the very end of the sentence?
In a standard Dutch main clause, the conjugated helper verb (is) stays in the second position, but the past participle (geworden) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
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