Breakdown of De kooplieden worden geacht de belasting te betalen.
betalen
to pay
de belasting
the tax
geacht worden te
to be expected to
de koopman
the merchant
Questions & Answers about De kooplieden worden geacht de belasting te betalen.
Why is the plural of koopman written as kooplieden instead of koopmannen?
For many traditional professions ending in -man, the plural replaces that suffix with -lieden (more formal) or -lui (more casual). A koopman (merchant) belongs to this group, so the correct plural is kooplieden or kooplui. The word koopmannen is not used.
How does the construction worden geacht te work in this sentence?
The verb achten means to consider, deem, or expect. When used in the passive voice with te plus an infinitive, worden geacht te translates to 'to be expected to' or 'to be supposed to'. Therefore, worden geacht de belasting te betalen means they are expected to pay the taxes.
Why do we use worden geacht instead of zijn geacht?
In Dutch, worden is used to form a dynamic passive voice for ongoing or recurring actions, while zijn is used for completed states. Because the expectation to pay taxes is a continuous rule rather than a single finished event, worden is the correct auxiliary verb here.
The English translation says taxes in the plural, but the Dutch sentence uses de belasting in the singular. Why is that?
In Dutch, de belasting is frequently used as a collective singular noun to refer to taxes in general or the tax system as a whole. While the plural de belastingen exists and is also grammatically correct, using the singular form is a very standard way to express this in Dutch.
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