Breakdown of Het erfgoed wordt niet afgebroken maar herbouwd.
het erfgoed
the heritage
herbouwen
to rebuild
afbreken
to demolish / to break off
Questions & Answers about Het erfgoed wordt niet afgebroken maar herbouwd.
What exactly does the prefix her- add to the verb bouwen in this sentence?
The prefix her- is used to indicate repetition, equivalent to the English prefix "re-". Just as bouwen means "to build", herbouwen means "to rebuild".
Why doesn't herbouwd have the ge- prefix in its past participle form?
Because herbouwen starts with the unstressed prefix her-. Verbs that start with inseparable, unstressed prefixes like her-, ont-, be-, ver-, and ge- never take an extra ge- in their past participle. Thus, it becomes herbouwd instead of geherbouwd.
Compare afgebroken and herbouwd. Why does one get a -ge- in the middle, while the other gets no ge- at all?
Afbreken is a separable verb with the stressed prefix af-, so the past participle adds -ge- between the prefix and the verb root, forming afgebroken. Herbouwen is an inseparable verb because of its unstressed her- prefix, which prevents it from taking a ge- entirely.
Why is the verb wordt used here instead of is to translate "is not demolished"?
This sentence is in the passive voice, describing an action currently happening to the subject (het erfgoed). In Dutch, the dynamic passive voice uses worden (literally "becomes"), whereas using is from the verb zijn would describe the resulting completed state, meaning "The heritage has been rebuilt".
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