Breakdown of Je wordt geacht je antwoorden academisch te formuleren.
jij
you
het antwoord
the answer
jouw
your
geacht worden te
to be expected to
academisch
academic
formuleren
to formulate
Questions & Answers about Je wordt geacht je antwoorden academisch te formuleren.
How does the geacht worden te construction work here?
Geacht comes from the verb achten, meaning to deem or consider. So literally, je wordt geacht means "you are considered" or "you are deemed". In Dutch, this passive construction is the standard formal way to say "you are expected to" or "you are supposed to". It always pairs with a te + infinitive at the end of the clause, which is te formuleren in this sentence.
Why are there two instances of je in this sentence?
They look identical because they are both unstressed pronouns, but they serve different grammatical functions. The first je is the subject pronoun meaning "you" (Je wordt geacht). The second je is the possessive pronoun meaning "your" (je antwoorden). If you wanted to emphasize them, you would use jij for the first and jouw for the second.
Why does te formuleren go at the very end, rather than right after geacht?
Dutch uses a bracket structure. The conjugated verb wordt and the past participle geacht form the first part of the action. The rest of the sentence is an extended infinitive clause. In these clauses, the objects and adverbs (je antwoorden academisch) come first, and the te + infinitive (te formuleren) gets pushed to the absolute end of the sentence.
Why doesn't the word academisch get a special ending to show it translates as "academically"?
In English, we usually add "-ly" to turn an adjective into an adverb. Dutch almost never does this. The adjective and adverb forms are identical. Here, academisch describes how you should formulate the answers, so it naturally acts as an adverb without changing its spelling.
Learn Je wordt geacht je antwoorden academisch te formuleren and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free