Breakdown of De vader werd het hoofd des gezins genoemd.
de vader
the father
worden
to become
het gezin
the family (parents and children)
het hoofd
the head
Questions & Answers about De vader werd het hoofd des gezins genoemd.
What exactly is happening with the grammar of "des gezins"?
Des gezins is a relic of the old Dutch genitive (possessive) case, meaning "of the family". Because gezin is a neuter noun (het gezin), the old grammar rules required the article des and an -s added to the end of the noun to show possession. Today, this is highly formal and mostly survives in fixed expressions or historical contexts.
How would a Dutch speaker express "the head of the family" in normal everyday speech?
In modern Dutch, you would typically use the preposition van and say het hoofd van het gezin. Alternatively, you can use a single compound noun: het gezinshoofd.
Why do we use "werd ... genoemd" instead of "was ... genoemd" for "was called"?
This is a reminder of how the Dutch passive voice works. To describe an action or process in the past ("was being called" or "used to be called"), Dutch uses the past tense of worden (werd) plus the past participle. If you used was genoemd, you would be forming the past perfect passive, meaning "had been called".
Why is the word "genoemd" at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch main clauses, the conjugated verb (here, werd) takes the second position, while any other verbs, such as the past participle genoemd, are pushed all the way to the end of the clause.