Breakdown of Ik wil niet gestoord worden tijdens het lezen.
ik
I
niet
not
willen
to want
het lezen
the reading
Questions & Answers about Ik wil niet gestoord worden tijdens het lezen.
Why is the sentence in the passive voice (gestoord worden) rather than active?
The speaker doesn’t care who does the disturbing—they just don’t want the action to happen. Dutch forms the passive with worden + past participle (gestoord). So Ik wil niet gestoord worden literally means “I don’t want to be disturbed,” with no need to name an agent.
How do you combine the modal verb willen with the passive infinitive? Why is there no te before gestoord worden?
In Dutch, a modal verb (like willen) is followed directly by the infinitive or passive infinitive without te. The structure here is:
• Subject (Ik)
• Modal (wil)
• Negation (niet)
• Passive infinitive (gestoord worden)
You never insert te between wil and gestoord worden.
Why is it gestoord worden and not worden gestoord in the infinitive construction?
In Dutch infinitive groups, the past participle comes immediately before the infinitive. So the passive infinitive is gestoord worden, while in a finite sentence you might say word ik gestoord (“am I disturbed”).
Why is niet placed before gestoord worden instead of at the very end of the sentence?