Question 1

Why do we use als here instead of zoals?

Accepted Answer

We use als because it indicates her actual role or capacity. She literally held the job of an interpreter. If you used zoals, it would mean she works in the manner of or similar to an interpreter, which implies she isn't actually one.

Question 2

Why is there no article before tolk? Shouldn't it be als een tolk?

Accepted Answer

In Dutch, the indefinite article een is usually dropped when stating someone's profession or role. While als een tolk is sometimes used for emphasis, just saying als tolk is the standard and most natural way to express working as an interpreter.

Question 3

We normally negate nouns with geen. Why do we use niet meer (not anymore) here?

Accepted Answer

You use niet meer here because you are negating the entire verb phrase werkt ... als (works as). You are saying the action of working in that specific role has stopped. If you wanted to use geen, you would have to drop the preposition and change the verb, such as in Zij is geen tolk meer (She is no longer an interpreter).

Question 4

Why does niet meer come directly before als tolk in the sentence?

Accepted Answer

In Dutch word order, adverbs of time and negation like niet meer generally come before prepositional phrases that describe the role or manner of the action. The negation sits right in front of the specific detail it is cancelling out.

Zij werkt niet meer als tolk.

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