Breakdown of Wij lazen over de door de journalist ontdekte fraude.
wij
we
lezen
to read
over
about
ontdekken
to discover
de journalist
the journalist
door
by (agent in a passive sentence)
de fraude
the fraud
Questions & Answers about Wij lazen over de door de journalist ontdekte fraude.
How does the word order in de door de journalist ontdekte fraude work?
This is the classic "trek harmonica" (accordion) structure you are currently learning! Dutch allows you to take a whole phrase (door de journalist ontdekte) and squeeze it between the article (de) and the noun (fraude) so that it acts as one giant adjective. In English, you typically have to put this extra information after the noun: "the fraud discovered by the journalist."
Inside that stretched phrase, why does ontdekte come right before the noun?
In an extended attributive phrase, the participle or adjective modifying the noun must sit immediately before that noun. All the extra details—like who performed the action, door de journalist (by the journalist)—must be placed before the participle.
Why is there an -e on the end of ontdekte?
Even though it is originally a past participle (ontdekt), it is functioning here as an adjective describing fraude. Because fraude is a de-word, the preceding adjective gets the standard -e ending.
If I find this structure too hard to build on the fly, is there an easier way to say it?
Yes! You can use a standard relative clause instead of the "harmonica" structure. You could say: Wij lazen over de fraude die door de journalist werd ontdekt. (We read about the fraud that was discovered by the journalist). Native speakers use both forms, but the relative clause is often easier for learners to construct while speaking.
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