Breakdown of Zonder oplader wordt deze laptop onbruikbaar.
deze
this / these
worden
to become
de oplader
the charger
de laptop
the laptop
Questions & Answers about Zonder oplader wordt deze laptop onbruikbaar.
Why is the verb wordt placed before the subject deze laptop?
Because the sentence starts with the phrase Zonder oplader (Without a charger). In Dutch, whenever you start a main clause with something other than the subject, the verb and subject swap places. This is called inversion.
How would I change this sentence to say the laptop "has become" unusable?
You need to use zijn (to be) as the helping verb, plus the past participle geworden. The sentence becomes: Zonder oplader is deze laptop onbruikbaar geworden. Remember that worden always takes zijn rather than hebben in the perfect tense.
Why is there no een (a) before oplader like there is in English?
In Dutch, it is very common to drop the indefinite article een after the preposition zonder (without) when referring to an everyday object in a general sense. While zonder een oplader is grammatically correct, zonder oplader sounds much more natural.
How is the adjective onbruikbaar formed?
It is built from the root of the verb gebruiken (to use). The suffix -baar means -able (making bruikbaar mean usable), and the prefix on- makes it negative. Just like in English, it pieces together to mean un-use-able.