Breakdown of Ons wordt de toegang tot de roulette geweigerd.
ons
us (object)
worden
to become
weigeren
to refuse
de toegang
the access
tot
to (indicating a goal or position)
de roulette
the roulette
Questions & Answers about Ons wordt de toegang tot de roulette geweigerd.
Why does this sentence use Ons wordt... instead of Wij worden...?
In English, you can make the indirect object the subject of a passive sentence (saying "We are denied..."). Dutch strictly forbids this. The direct object (de toegang) becomes the new subject, while ons remains an object. Moving ons to the front of the sentence doesn't make it the subject; it just emphasizes who is being affected.
Why is the verb wordt singular when it translates to "We are"?
The verb must agree with the true grammatical subject of the Dutch sentence, which is de toegang (the access). Since de toegang is singular, the verb is wordt. It translates to "We are" because English allows a different passive structure, but literally, this Dutch sentence says "To us, the access is denied."
Could I add aan and say Aan ons wordt de toegang geweigerd?
Yes, absolutely. Adding aan (to) makes it completely explicit that ons is the indirect object ("to us"). This can be a helpful trick to remember why it can't be the subject! However, dropping aan, as in this sentence, is extremely common and natural in Dutch.
Why use tot after toegang?
The noun toegang (access) forms a fixed combination with the preposition tot to mean "access to." Just like you wouldn't say "access at" in English, you must use tot rather than naar or aan in Dutch.
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