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De trapper en het tandwiel zijn helemaal kapot.

De trapper en het tandwiel zijn helemaal kapot.
The pedal and the sprocket are completely broken.
From Lesson 411:Fronting verbs for focus·Dutch

Questions & Answers about De trapper en het tandwiel zijn helemaal kapot.

Why is trapper translated as pedal? Is it a false friend?
Yes! In Dutch, a trapper is specifically a bicycle pedal, derived from the verb trappen (to pedal, kick, or step). For other types of pedals, like the gas pedal in a car or a piano pedal, you would use the word het pedaal.
What is the literal translation of tandwiel?
It literally translates to tooth wheel (tand + wiel). Dutch frequently uses highly descriptive compound nouns like this for mechanical parts. It is the standard word for a sprocket, cog, or gear.
Could we apply this lesson's topic of contrastive fronting to a sentence like this?
Yes! While this lesson focuses on fronting infinitives and participles, you can front adjectives like kapot for the exact same contrastive effect. If someone asked if the parts were just dirty, you could forcefully reply: Kapot zijn de trapper en het tandwiel! (Broken is what they are!).
Why does helemaal kapot mean completely broken instead of just broken?
The word helemaal (entirely or totally) acts as an intensifier here. While kapot alone means broken, adding helemaal emphasizes that the parts are beyond a simple repair and are completely ruined.

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