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Questions & Answers about De tuin is afgesloten.
What does the adjective afgesloten mean in this sentence?
In De tuin is afgesloten, afgesloten means that the garden is closed off, locked, or secured. It describes the state the garden is in—implying that access is restricted.
Why is the sentence built with is afgesloten instead of using wordt afgesloten?
Using is afgesloten expresses a finished or static state (a stative passive), meaning the garden is already closed off. In contrast, wordt afgesloten would indicate that the garden is in the process of being closed off.
What is the grammatical role of afgesloten in this sentence?
Afgesloten is the past participle of the verb afsluiten and functions as an adjectival complement. It forms part of a passive construction that describes the condition of the garden, rather than focusing on the action of closing.
How is the past participle afgesloten formed from the base verb afsluiten?
Afsluiten is a separable compound verb. In Dutch, the past participle of many separable verbs is formed by inserting ge between the prefix and the main verb. For afsluiten, this process yields afgesloten—a compound word that you must learn as a whole.
Why does the noun tuin take the article de in this sentence?
In Dutch, every noun is assigned a gender and takes either de or het as its definite article. Tuin (meaning “garden”) is a common gender noun, so it correctly pairs with the article de.