Later zal de politie elk bewijsstuk zorgvuldig bekijken.

Later the police will carefully examine each piece of evidence.

Breakdown of Later zal de politie elk bewijsstuk zorgvuldig bekijken.

• later: later
• zullen: will
• elk: each
• de politie: the police
• zorgvuldig: carefully
• het bewijsstuk: the piece of evidence
• bekijken: to examine

Questions & Answers about Later zal de politie elk bewijsstuk zorgvuldig bekijken.

Why is Later placed at the very beginning of the sentence, and why does zal come before de politie?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule. When a time adverbial like Later occupies the first slot, the finite verb must be in slot two, and then comes the subject. So:

• Slot 1: Later
• Slot 2: zal (finite verb)
• Slot 3: de politie (subject)

If you started with the subject, the adverb would move later in the sentence:
De politie zal later elk bewijsstuk zorgvuldig bekijken.

How do you form the future tense in Dutch, and what is the role of zal here?

Dutch uses the auxiliary zullen to form a simple future:

• zal + infinitive = “will” + verb.
Example: Ik zal komen = I will come.

Here zal indicates that the action (examining each piece of evidence) will take place in the future.
Note: You can also use the present tense for future events (De politie bekijkt later…) or a colloquial form gaat + infinitive (De politie gaat later…).

What does elk mean, and how is it different from iedere and alle?

• elk = “each” or “every” used with a singular countable noun (elk boek, elk bewijsstuk).
• iedere( n) is very similar to elk and also takes a singular noun (ieder boek).
• alle = “all” used with plural nouns (alle boeken, alle bewijsstukken).

Subtlety:
– Elk bewijsstuk focuses on every single piece individually.
– Alle bewijsstukken treats them as a group.

Why is bewijsstuk written as one word, and what does it literally mean?

Dutch often creates compound nouns by joining two words:

• bewijs = proof/evidence
• stuk = piece

Combined, bewijsstuk literally means “piece of evidence.” In Dutch you write most compounds as a single word.

Why is zorgvuldig used here, and why doesn’t it get an extra -e?

Zorgvuldig means “carefully.” In Dutch:

• As an adverb, many adjectives stay in their uninflected form (no extra -e).
• As an attributive adjective before a noun, you’d add -e if the noun is de- or plural: de zorgvuldige inspectie.

Here zorgvuldig modifies the verb bekijken, so it remains unchanged.

What kind of verb is bekijken, and is it separable?

Bekijken means “to look at” or “to examine.” It is an inseparable verb because of the prefix be-. Consequences:

• You never split it (you say ik bekijk het, not ik kijk het bez).
• In the perfect tense you get ik heb bekeken (no extra ge- before the stem).

Could we say alle bewijsstukken instead of elk bewijsstuk, and how would that change the nuance?

Yes, you could say:

De politie zal alle bewijsstukken zorgvuldig bekijken.

Difference in nuance:
• elk bewijsstuk (“each piece”) stresses examining them one by one.
• alle bewijsstukken (“all the pieces”) stresses examining the collection as a whole.

Why use bekijken here rather than onderzoeken or inspecteren?

All three mean “to examine,” but with different shades:

• bekijken – literally “to look at,” i.e. visual, general examination.
• onderzoeken – “to investigate” or “research,” often scientific or detailed probing.
• inspecteren – “to inspect,” more formal or official check (e.g. safety inspections).

In context, bekijken suggests the police will carefully look over each piece of evidence.