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Questions & Answers about De boeking is bevestigd.
Why is it de boeking and not het boeking?
Because nouns ending in -ing are almost always common gender in Dutch, so they take de. Hence, de boeking is correct.
- Indefinite: een boeking
- Plural: boekingen → de boekingen
Is this a passive sentence? What nuance does is bevestigd have compared to wordt/werd bevestigd?
Yes, it’s passive.
- De boeking is bevestigd: a “stative” passive with zijn. It focuses on the current result/state: the booking is now confirmed (often like English “has been confirmed”).
- De boeking wordt bevestigd: “eventive” passive with worden in the present; the confirming is happening now or scheduled/expected (“is being confirmed / will be confirmed”).
- De boeking werd bevestigd: eventive passive in the past (“was confirmed”).
Notes:
- You can add an agent: De boeking is bevestigd door het hotel.
- Regional/older variants like is bevestigd geworden or Flemish is bevestigd geraakt exist but are not needed in standard Dutch.
Where is the ge- in the past participle? Why not gebevestigd?
Verbs with inseparable prefixes (like be-, ver-, ont-) do not take ge- in the past participle. So:
- bevestigen → bevestigd (not gebevestigd)
- verkopen → verkocht
- ontvangen → ontvangen
Why does it end in -d (bevestigd) and not -t (bevestigt)? What about the Dutch d/t issue?
For regular participles, Dutch uses the “’t kofschip / ’t fokschaap” rule: if the final sound of the stem is voiceless (t, k, f, s, ch, p, x), the participle ends in -t; otherwise -d.
- Stem of bevestigen is bevestig- (ends in the sound [ɣ]/, not in the voiceless set), so the participle takes -d: bevestigd.
- bevestigt (with -t) is the 3rd person singular present tense: Hij bevestigt de boeking (“He confirms the booking”), not the participle.
But it sounds like a t, right?
Yes. Dutch final devoicing means word-final -d is pronounced like -t. So bevestigd is pronounced as if it were bevestigt.
- Approximate pronunciation: De boeking is bevestigd → “duh BOO-king iss buh-VES-ticht” (the ch/g is the harsh sound from “Bach”).
- IPA (NL): [də ˈbukɪŋ ɪs bəˈvɛstɪxt]
Can I use reservering instead of boeking?
Often yes; they overlap a lot.
- De reservering is bevestigd is perfectly natural.
- Subtle nuance (Netherlands): reservering is common for restaurants/hotels; boeking shows up a lot in travel, tickets, tours, or paid arrangements. In Belgium, boeking is used very widely. Context usually makes both fine.
How do I say “Your booking is confirmed”? Formal vs informal?
- Formal: Uw boeking is bevestigd. (polite/formal)
- Informal: Je/Jouw boeking is bevestigd.
- je is the unstressed form; jouw is stressed/contrastive (both mean “your”).
Can I drop the article in a subject line or UI message?
Yes. In headlines, buttons, and status labels you’ll often see Boeking bevestigd. In regular prose, use an article: De/uw/je boeking is bevestigd.
Where do I put adverbs like al (already) or nog niet (not yet)?
Place them after is and before bevestigd:
- De boeking is al bevestigd.
- De boeking is nog niet bevestigd. Time adverbs like gisteren usually go before bevestigd too: De boeking is gisteren bevestigd.
How do I mention who confirmed it?
Use door + agent:
- De boeking is bevestigd door de luchtvaartmaatschappij / door ons / door het hotel. Avoid van for agents here; door is the standard choice in the passive.
What’s the active-voice equivalent?
- Present: Het hotel bevestigt de boeking.
- Perfect: Het hotel heeft de boeking bevestigd.
- Past: Het hotel bevestigde de boeking.
What happens to the word order in a subordinate clause?
Both orders occur, but the default in writing is participle + auxiliary at the end:
- Default: … dat de boeking bevestigd is.
- Also common (especially in speech): … dat de boeking is bevestigd.
Can bevestigd be used as an adjective before a noun?
Yes, then it inflects like a normal adjective.
- Because boeking is a de-word: de bevestigde boeking, een bevestigde boeking.
- For a neuter het-word without an article: een bevestigd bericht vs. het bevestigde bericht.
How do I negate it? Is there a difference between niet bevestigd and onbevestigd?
- Verbal negation: De boeking is niet bevestigd (or more common: nog niet bevestigd).
- As an adjective meaning “unconfirmed,” onbevestigd exists: een onbevestigde melding. For bookings, the verbal pattern (nog) niet bevestigd is more idiomatic for status updates.
Is De boeking staat vast a good alternative?
Yes. De boeking staat vast means “The booking is fixed/settled.” It’s idiomatic but doesn’t explicitly mention a confirmation action. Another option is De boeking is rond (“The booking is all set”).