Breakdown of Hem worden de fiches door de croupier gegeven.
geven
to give
hem
him
worden
to become
door
by (agent in a passive sentence)
Questions & Answers about Hem worden de fiches door de croupier gegeven.
Why does this sentence start with the object pronoun Hem instead of the subject pronoun Hij?
In English, the receiver of an action can become the subject of a passive sentence, for example: He is given the chips. Dutch does not allow this. The indirect object (the receiver) must remain an object in the passive voice. Therefore, you must use the object pronoun hem, not the subject pronoun hij. You are essentially saying: To him, the chips are given.
If the sentence starts with one person (Hem), why is the plural verb worden used instead of wordt?
Because hem is not the subject of the sentence! The actual grammatical subject is de fiches. Since de fiches is plural, the verb must also be the plural worden.
Can I add aan and say Aan hem worden de fiches gegeven?
Yes, absolutely. Adding aan makes it clear that he is the indirect object. However, dropping aan is completely correct and very common in Dutch, which is why you just see Hem here.
Why is the object (Hem) placed at the very beginning of the sentence?