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De brandweerlieden worden geacht het gebouw te redden.

De brandweerlieden worden geacht het gebouw te redden.
The firefighters are expected to save the building.
From Lesson 359:Plurals of professions (-lieden, -lui)·Dutch

Questions & Answers about De brandweerlieden worden geacht het gebouw te redden.

What is the singular of brandweerlieden, and are there other ways to form this plural?
The singular is brandweerman. For professions ending in -man, Dutch often replaces it with -lieden or -lui in the plural. You can use brandweerlieden (which sounds a bit more formal), brandweerlui (more casual), or brandweermannen (also very common). All three correctly mean firefighters.
I learned that achten means to consider or to respect. Why does it mean expected here?
While achten does generally mean to consider or to deem, the specific passive phrase geacht worden te translates to to be expected to or to be supposed to. It implies a strong duty or formal expectation, which perfectly fits describing the professional responsibilities of the firefighters here.
Why is there a te before redden?
The phrase geacht worden is a verb construction that requires te before the infinitive verb that follows it. This is very similar to English, where we say expected TO save rather than just expected save, giving us geacht het gebouw te redden.
Why is the verbal phrase split up, placing het gebouw before te redden?
In a Dutch main clause, the conjugated verb worden takes the second position. The remaining verbs and verb-like elements (geacht te redden) are sent to the end of the sentence. The direct object het gebouw must be placed before this final verb cluster.

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