Het draaiboek moet afgemaakt zijn, behalve die scène.
The script must be finished, except that scene.
Breakdown of Het draaiboek moet afgemaakt zijn, behalve die scène.
zijn
to be
die
that / those (de-words and plurals)
moeten
to have to, must
afmaken
to finish
de scène
the scene
behalve
except / besides
het draaiboek
the script / the schedule (shooting script, production plan)
Questions & Answers about Het draaiboek moet afgemaakt zijn, behalve die scène.
Why does this sentence use moet ... zijn instead of moet ... worden?
This highlights the difference between a state and an action. Moet afgemaakt zijn means the script needs to be in a finished state (for example, by a certain deadline). If you used moet afgemaakt worden, it would mean the action of finishing it needs to take place. English uses "must be finished" for both, but Dutch forces you to distinguish between the resulting state (zijn) and the ongoing action (worden).
What exactly is a draaiboek?
A draaiboek refers to a script or screenplay for a film or play, or a detailed run-sheet for an event. Because this sentence mentions a scène (scene), it specifically means a movie or theater script here. The word literally translates to "turn-book," coming from the verb draaien (to turn), which is also the Dutch term for shooting or rolling a film.
As a refresher, why is the ge- in the middle of afgemaakt?
The infinitive is afmaken (to finish), which is a separable verb. When forming the past participle of a separable verb, the ge- prefix is always sandwiched between the separable prefix (af-) and the verb stem (maakt), giving you afgemaakt.
Why is behalve die scène placed after all the verbs at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch, verbs like afgemaakt zijn are usually pushed to the end of the clause, forming a "verbal bracket" that holds the rest of the sentence. However, prepositional phrases—especially exceptions starting with behalve (except)—are often placed completely outside this bracket at the end. You could put it in the middle (Het draaiboek moet, behalve die scène, afgemaakt zijn), but placing it at the end sounds much more natural.
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