Breakdown of Tijdens de zitting der rechtbank werd de eed afgelegd.
worden
to become
tijdens
during
de rechtbank
the court (district court / court of law)
der
of the (genitive)
de zitting
the session
de eed
the oath
afleggen
to take (an oath)
Questions & Answers about Tijdens de zitting der rechtbank werd de eed afgelegd.
Why does this sentence use der rechtbank instead of van de rechtbank?
der is an old genitive (possessive) article meaning 'of the'. While you can perfectly well say van de rechtbank in everyday Dutch, legal and highly formal contexts frequently still use these old genitive relics.
How do I know when to use der versus des in these formal phrases?
It depends on the noun's historical gender. der is used for feminine and plural nouns, while des is used for masculine and neuter nouns (which usually also get an extra -s attached to the noun, like des huizes). Because rechtbank is feminine, it takes der.
What does the verb afleggen mean here, and how else is it used?
een eed afleggen is a fixed expression meaning 'to take an oath' or 'to swear an oath'. You cannot use afleggen for physically putting an object down; instead, it appears in specific abstract combinations like taking a test (een examen afleggen) or covering a distance (een afstand afleggen).
Why does the sentence use werd ... afgelegd instead of was ... afgelegd for 'was taken'?
This is a dynamic passive sentence focusing on the action happening at that exact moment in the past, so it uses the past tense of worden (werd). If you used was, it would describe a completed state, meaning the action happened before the session even started ('the oath had been taken').
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