Breakdown of Men wordt geacht een origineel essay te schrijven.
een
a/an
schrijven
to write
men
one / people (general)
geacht worden te
to be expected to
origineel
original
het essay
the essay
Questions & Answers about Men wordt geacht een origineel essay te schrijven.
How does the phrase geacht worden te work in this sentence?
The phrase geacht worden te combined with an infinitive (here, schrijven) translates to "to be expected to" or "to be supposed to". It is a formal way to express a rule or strong expectation. Literally, geacht comes from the verb achten (to consider or deem), so the underlying meaning is that one is "considered" or "deemed" to write it.
Why use men instead of je here?
Men is a formal, impersonal pronoun meaning "one" or "people". Since geacht worden is already quite formal and often used in official rules or academic guidelines, men fits the professional tone perfectly. In everyday speech, you would be much more likely to hear the informal je (you) for general statements.
Why doesn't the adjective origineel get an -e at the end?
This is a great refresher on adjective endings. Because essay is a neuter noun (het essay), it follows a specific rule: when a neuter noun is preceded by the indefinite article een (a/an), the adjective modifying it drops the -e ending. If it were referring to a specific essay (het originele essay), the -e would return.
Why are the words te schrijven placed at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch, infinitives and verbs with te are pushed to the end of the clause. While English keeps the verb and its object together ("to write an original essay"), Dutch places the direct object (een origineel essay) before the te + infinitive construction.
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