Breakdown of De cameraman moet meteen worden gebeld.
bellen
to call
moeten
to have to, must
meteen
immediately
worden
to become
de cameraman
the cameraman
Questions & Answers about De cameraman moet meteen worden gebeld.
Why do we use worden gebeld here instead of zijn gebeld?
We use worden because this is a dynamic passive, meaning it describes an action that needs to take place. Someone needs to pick up the phone and call the cameraman right now. If you used zijn to make moet zijn gebeld, it changes to a stative passive. That would mean the state of having been called must already be completed, which is usually paired with a deadline (for example, 'He must have been called by tomorrow').
Can I change the verb order at the end and say gebeld worden?
Yes! In Dutch, when you have a cluster of verbs at the end of a clause, the auxiliary verb (worden) and the past participle (gebeld) can usually be swapped. Both worden gebeld and gebeld worden are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.
Why do worden and gebeld both get pushed to the end of the sentence?
This is the standard Dutch word order for main clauses with modal verbs. The conjugated modal verb (moet) takes the second position in the sentence. All other verbs in the phrase must be stacked together at the very end of the clause, forming what is sometimes called a verb cluster.
Could I use onmiddellijk instead of meteen in this sentence?
Absolutely. Both words translate to 'immediately' or 'right away' and can be used interchangeably here. Meteen is very common in everyday spoken Dutch, whereas onmiddellijk can sound slightly more formal or add an extra layer of strict urgency.
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