Breakdown of U bent niet bevoegd om hier te parkeren.
zijn
to be
u
you (formal)
hier
here
niet
not
parkeren
to park
te
to (infinitive marker)
om
in order to
bevoegd
authorized
Questions & Answers about U bent niet bevoegd om hier te parkeren.
What does bevoegd mean and in what contexts is it used?
It translates to authorized, competent, or legally qualified. At B2 level, you will see bevoegd a lot in formal or legal contexts, like traffic rules, official permissions, or job qualifications. It is much more formal than just saying someone mag (may or is allowed to) do something.
Why do we use the om ... te structure here?
The phrase bevoegd zijn (to be authorized) is typically followed by the om + te + infinitive structure to explain exactly what action is authorized. The action here is parkeren, and the location word hier is placed between om and te to complete that clause.
Is there a reason we use the formal pronoun U instead of je here?
Yes! Because bevoegd belongs to formal or official registers (such as a parking sign, a legal document, or a police officer addressing you), it naturally pairs with the formal pronoun U. A casual warning would be phrased much more simply, like Je mag hier niet parkeren.
How might a sentence like this tie into the current lesson's focus on daar (since / seeing that)?
The conjunction daar is highly formal, making it a perfect fit for a sentence using formal vocabulary like bevoegd. You will often see them together in official explanations, for example: Daar u geen vergunning heeft, bent u niet bevoegd om hier te parkeren (Since you do not have a permit, you are not authorized to park here).
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