🇳🇱 holandês · B1 · News & Media

Understanding news headlines

5 min de leitura · worden + voltooid deelwoord (passief) · De man werd gearresteerd · Het gebouw is verwoest

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Vocabulário

het nieuwsthe news
de krantenkopthe headline
de verslaggeverthe reporter
gearresteerdarrested
vrijgelatenreleased
onderzochtinvestigated
de aanslagthe attack
het slachtofferthe victim
de verdachtethe suspect
veroordeeldconvicted
de lijdende vormthe passive voice

The Passive Voice in Dutch News

Dutch news headlines frequently use the passive voice (de lijdende vorm). The passive is formed with worden + past participle (present) or zijn + past participle (completed action).

Present passive (worden):

De verdachte wordt onderzocht. — The suspect is being investigated.

Past passive (werd/werden):

De man werd gearresteerd. — The man was arrested.

Perfect passive (zijn + past participle):

Het gebouw is verwoest. — The building has been destroyed.

The past participle in Dutch usually starts with ge- and ends in -d or -t (regular) or -en (irregular):

arresteren → gearresteerd (regular)
verwoesten → verwoest (regular, no ge- because of ver- prefix)
vrijlaten → vrijgelaten (irregular)

Headlines often drop articles and auxiliary verbs for brevity: "Man gearresteerd na inbraak" (Man arrested after break-in). Understanding this shortened style is key to reading Dutch news.

Note: verbs with prefixes be-, er-, ge-, her-, ont-, ver- do NOT add ge- in the past participle.

Expressões

De man werd gearresteerdPast passive: was arrested
Het gebouw is verwoestPerfect passive: has been destroyed
Er wordt onderzocht of...Impersonal passive: being investigated
De verdachte is vrijgelatenPerfect passive: has been released
Het werd aangekondigd dat...It was announced that...
Er zijn drie gewonden gevallenThree people were injured

Erros frequentes

~~De man is gearresteerd worden~~
De man is gearresteerd
Perfect passive uses zijn, not zijn + worden
~~Het gebouw werd verwoesten~~
Het gebouw werd verwoest
Past participle (verwoest), not infinitive
~~De verdachte wordt gevrijlaten~~
De verdachte wordt vrijgelaten
Separable verb: vrij + gelaten (ge- goes between)
~~Het nieuws werden aangekondigd~~
Het nieuws werd aangekondigd
Het nieuws is singular, so werd (not werden)
~~Man is gearresteerd geweest~~
Man is gearresteerd
No geweest needed in passive with zijn

Quiz rápido

Pergunta 1 de 5

Como se diz «arrested» em holandês?

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