Breakdown of Zodra je een origineel essay hebt, word je geacht dat helder te formuleren.
jij
you
een
a/an
hebben
to have
dat
that (het-words)
helder
clear
zodra
as soon as
geacht worden te
to be expected to
origineel
original
het essay
the essay
formuleren
to formulate
Questions & Answers about Zodra je een origineel essay hebt, word je geacht dat helder te formuleren.
How does the formal structure geacht worden te work in this sentence?
The phrase geacht worden te means "to be expected to" or "to be supposed to". It uses the passive voice of the verb achten (to deem or consider). In this sentence, word is the conjugated verb, geacht is the past participle, and they are tied to the te + infinitive phrase at the very end: te formuleren (to formulate).
Why is it word je and not wordt je?
In Dutch, when the subject je or jij (you) comes immediately after the verb, the verb drops its -t ending. The sentence starts with a subclause (Zodra je een origineel essay hebt), which triggers inversion in the main clause, forcing the verb word to come right before je.
Why is the verb hebt at the end of the first part of the sentence?
The word Zodra (as soon as) is a subordinating conjunction. This means it creates a subclause, which forces all verbs in that clause—in this case, just hebt—to the very end, right before the comma.
What does dat refer to in dat helder te formuleren, and could I use het instead?
Dat refers back to een origineel essay. Because essay is a neuter noun (an het-word), you use dat or het to point back to it. Using dat (that) instead of het (it) acts as a demonstrative pronoun, adding a bit more emphasis to mean "to formulate that" rather than just "to formulate it".
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