Breakdown of Zelfs de foto's schijnen door de app bewerkt te zijn.
zijn
to be
de foto
the photo
te
to (infinitive marker)
door
by (agent in a passive sentence)
zelfs
even
de app
the app
schijnen
to seem / be said to (hearsay)
bewerken
to process, to edit
Questions & Answers about Zelfs de foto's schijnen door de app bewerkt te zijn.
How would you write this sentence using a dat clause instead?
It would be: Het schijnt dat zelfs de foto's door de app bewerkt zijn. By using the "Subject Raising" structure taught in this lesson, we pull the subject of the dat-clause (de foto's) to the front, conjugate the evidential verb (schijnen) to match it, and turn the verbs at the end into a te + infinitive phrase (bewerkt te zijn).
How is the passive voice handled in this te + infinitive structure (bewerkt te zijn)?
Normally, a passive phrase uses a past participle and an auxiliary verb, like zijn bewerkt (are edited). When we shift this into an infinitive phrase, the past participle (bewerkt) stays exactly the same, and the auxiliary verb takes the infinitive form with te (te zijn).
Could I use lijken or blijken instead of schijnen here?
You could, but the nuance changes. Schijnen implies a rumor or an impression based on what you have heard from others. Lijken is a direct personal impression based on your own observation ("They look to me like they are edited"). Blijken means it has been proven as a fact ("It turns out they are edited").
Why does door de app come before bewerkt te zijn?
In a Dutch sentence with a verb cluster at the end, prepositional phrases like door de app (by the app) generally come before the verbs. The entire verbal block (bewerkt te zijn) must sit tightly together at the very end of the clause.
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