Word
De smaragd is gisteren verkocht.
Meaning
The emerald was sold yesterday.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De smaragd is gisteren verkocht.
zijn
to be
verkopen
to sell
gisteren
yesterday
de smaragd
the emerald
Questions & Answers about De smaragd is gisteren verkocht.
Why does the Dutch sentence use is when the English translation says "was"?
In Dutch, the passive voice for completed actions is formed with the present tense of zijn (to be) plus the past participle. While English uses "was sold" or "has been sold", Dutch uses is verkocht to show the selling is a completed result. If you used werd verkocht, it would emphasize the ongoing process in the past rather than the fact that it is done.
Why is gisteren placed before verkocht instead of at the end of the sentence?
In a Dutch main clause, the conjugated verb (is) takes the second position, and any past participles (like verkocht) are sent to the very end of the sentence. Time adverbs like gisteren are placed in the middle field between those two verb parts.
Is there a predictable rule for the gender of words like smaragd?
Yes! Smaragd takes de, as you can see at the start of the sentence. A handy rule of thumb for vocabulary building is that the names of precious stones and minerals, such as de diamant or de robijn, are almost always de-words in Dutch.