Breakdown of We sluiten het wijkcentrum, tenzij er voor wordt betaald.
betalen
to pay
sluiten
to close
voor
for (on behalf of)
worden
to become
Questions & Answers about We sluiten het wijkcentrum, tenzij er voor wordt betaald.
How does the impersonal passive work with betalen voor in this sentence?
The active phrase is betalen voor (to pay for). To say "it is being paid for" without specifying who is paying, Dutch uses the impersonal passive. Because the verb involves a fixed preposition, we use er combined with voor. This creates the subjectless passive structure er voor wordt betaald.
Should er voor be written as one single word (ervoor)?
Officially, yes. When er and a preposition form a pronominal adverb meaning "for it", they should be written as one word (ervoor) unless other words separate them. However, it is very common for native speakers to write them with a space. Writing tenzij ervoor wordt betaald is the strictly correct grammatical choice.
Why are the verbs wordt betaald pushed to the very end of the sentence?
The word tenzij (unless) is a subordinating conjunction. In Dutch, subordinate clauses require the working verbs to be moved to the very end of the clause.
What would change if the sentence used is betaald instead of wordt betaald?
Using is betaald changes the passive to the present perfect tense. It would mean "unless it has been paid for" (focusing on the completed result before closing), whereas wordt betaald means "unless it is being paid for" (focusing on the general rule or an ongoing action).