Breakdown of De onbekenden zijn beschermd tegen het gevaar.
zijn
to be
beschermen
to protect
tegen
against / to (speaking to)
het gevaar
the danger
Questions & Answers about De onbekenden zijn beschermd tegen het gevaar.
Why does onbekenden get an -n at the end here?
The word onbekend is an adjective meaning unknown. When an adjective is used independently as a noun to refer to people in the plural, it gets an -n ending. If we were talking about unknown things, it would just be de onbekende, but because these are human strangers, it becomes de onbekenden.
Why is it beschermd with a -d rather than a -t?
The word beschermd is a past participle used here to mean protected. To form the past participle of beschermen, we look at the verb stem bescherm. Since the final letter m is not in the 't kofschip list of voiceless consonants, the participle gets a -d instead of a -t.
Why does the sentence use zijn instead of worden for the passive voice?
Can I use van instead of tegen to mean protected from the danger?