Breakdown of De belichting moet afgesteld zijn voordat de acteurs komen.
zijn
to be
komen
to come
moeten
to have to, must
voordat
before
de acteur
the actor
de belichting
the lighting (photography, film)
afstellen
to adjust (tune, calibrate)
Questions & Answers about De belichting moet afgesteld zijn voordat de acteurs komen.
Why does this sentence use moet afgesteld zijn instead of moet afgesteld worden?
This highlights the difference between a resulting state and an ongoing action. Moet afgesteld zijn (stative necessity) means the lighting must already be in a completed state of adjustment by the time the actors arrive. If it said moet afgesteld worden (dynamic obligation), it would mean the actual action of adjusting the lights must happen at that moment.
Why is the -ge- placed in the middle of afgesteld?
The verb is afstellen (to adjust or calibrate), which is a separable verb. When forming the past participle of a separable verb, the -ge- prefix gets sandwiched between the separable prefix (af-) and the verb stem (steld).
Why are both afgesteld and zijn placed at the end of the first clause?
In a main clause, the conjugated modal verb (moet) takes the second position. Any other verbs belonging to it—in this case, the past participle afgesteld and the infinitive zijn—are pushed to the very end of that clause, right before the conjunction voordat.
Why does komen appear at the very end of the sentence?
The word voordat (before) is a subordinating conjunction. In Dutch subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the end of the clause, which is why the conjugated verb komen sits at the very end here.
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