Breakdown of Chronische slapeloosheid wordt door de dokter vastgesteld.
worden
to become
door
by (agent in a passive sentence)
de dokter
the doctor (everyday word)
de slapeloosheid
the insomnia
Questions & Answers about Chronische slapeloosheid wordt door de dokter vastgesteld.
Why is wordt used here instead of is, given that the English translation says 'is determined'?
In Dutch, the present passive voice uses the verb worden. If you used is vastgesteld, it would form the present perfect passive, meaning the action was already completed and is treated as a state ('has been determined' or 'is already diagnosed').
The participle is vastgesteld. What is the infinitive, and how is it used here?
The infinitive is the separable verb vaststellen. It generally translates to 'to establish' or 'to determine', but in medical contexts like this one, it is the standard way to say 'to diagnose'.
How do we know to add an -e to chronisch to make it chronische slapeloosheid?
All Dutch nouns ending in the suffix -heid are de-words. Because slapeloosheid is a de-word, any adjective placed directly in front of it gets the -e ending, even without an article like de or een preceding it.
How does the word slapeloosheid break down literally?
It is built from slaap (sleep), the suffix -loos (meaning -less or without), and the suffix -heid (meaning -ness). Literally translating to 'sleeplessness', this is the standard Dutch word for insomnia.