Breakdown of De voorzitter bracht de motie in stemming.
in
in
brengen
to bring (to a destination)
de voorzitter
the chairperson
de motie
the motion
de stemming
the vote
Questions & Answers about De voorzitter bracht de motie in stemming.
This lesson is about function verb structures. What is the exact structure used in this sentence?
The structure is iets in stemming brengen, which literally means to bring something into voting. It is a formal expression related to voting on something (ergens over stemmen), but it specifically refers to the administrative action of initiating the vote, which is usually done by a chairperson.
The English translation says put to a vote. Why does Dutch use bracht instead of a verb for put like zetten or stellen?
In Dutch function verb structures, the choice of the light verb (like brengen, nemen, or maken) is highly fixed and does not always map directly to English. While English puts things to a vote, Dutch brings them into a vote (in stemming brengen). You simply have to memorize these specific noun-verb combinations as set phrases.
If I used this phrase in a subordinate clause, how would the word order change?
In a subordinate clause, the conjugated verb moves to the end of the sentence, but the prepositional phrase in stemming stays right in front of it. For example, if you start with Ik hoorde dat..., the sentence becomes: Ik hoorde dat de voorzitter de motie in stemming bracht.
Could I just use the standard verb stemmen to express this idea more simply?
Not exactly, because it changes who is performing the core action. You could say De leden stemden over de motie (The members voted on the motion). However, in stemming brengen is the specific action of opening the floor for a vote. The chairperson (de voorzitter) does this, while the members are the ones who actually vote (stemmen).
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