Questions & Answers about Is mijn eigen parel verkocht?
Why is the translation "has been sold" when the Dutch literally says "Is my own pearl sold"?
This is the Dutch present perfect passive. While English forms this with "has been" + past participle, Dutch simply uses the present tense of zijn (to be) + the past participle. You don't use a form of hebben (to have) or add a word for "been" (like geworden). Therefore, is verkocht correctly translates to "has been sold".
Parel is a de-word. Why doesn't eigen get an -e ending after mijn, like in mijn mooie parel?
The word eigen (own) is a strict exception to the standard adjective inflection rules. It almost never takes the -e ending, regardless of whether the noun is a de-word or a het-word. You will always say mijn eigen parel instead of mijn eigene parel.
Why doesn't the past participle verkocht start with ge-?
Verbs that begin with an unstressed, inseparable prefix, like ver-, be-, ont-, or ge-, do not get an extra ge- in their past participle form. Since the infinitive is verkopen, the past participle is simply verkocht.
Why are the verbs is and verkocht separated by the subject?
Because this is a yes/no question, the finite (conjugated) verb is must be placed at the very beginning of the sentence. The past participle verkocht is sent to the end of the clause, creating a verb brace that surrounds the subject mijn eigen parel.
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