Participial Constructions
Participial Constructions
Dutch participles can act as adjectives and, in formal writing, can open a whole clause: Gezien de omstandigheden ... — 'Given the circumstances ...'. The written language leans on these far more heavily than the spoken one.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
The present participle in -end works as an adjective
de slapende hond, een lachend kind, stromend water
the sleeping dog, a laughing child, running water
Add -end to the stem and you have a present participle, which then takes ordinary adjective endings: de slapende hond but een slapend kind. English uses its '-ing' form the same way, so the parallel is close. Dutch does not, however, use this form to build tenses — there is no 'ik ben werkend' for 'I am working'.
Past participles as adjectives, fully inflected
de gemaakte afspraken, een gesloten deur, het verloren geld
the arrangements made, a closed door, the lost money
Past participles behave like any other adjective, taking -e according to the usual article rules: de gesloten deur, een gesloten deur, een gesloten raam. Note the word order — Dutch places the participle before the noun where English often puts it after ('the arrangements made'), so a Dutch noun phrase can pack in material English would need a relative clause for.
Absolute participial phrases open formal sentences
Gezien de omstandigheden is uitstel onvermijdelijk. Gelet op uw verzoek, ...
Given the circumstances, postponement is unavoidable. In view of your request, ...
Formal Dutch begins sentences with a bare participle phrase: gezien ('given'), gelet op ('in view of'), afgezien van ('apart from'), gebaseerd op ('based on'). Because the phrase fills first position, the main clause must invert — is uitstel onvermijdelijk. English has the same construction with 'given' and 'considering' but uses it less densely; in Dutch official prose it is a defining feature.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- sleeping
- English
- laughing
- English
- flowing / running
- English
- given / in view of
- English
- in view of
- English
- apart from
- English
- based on
- English
- the circumstances
- English
- the postponement
- English
- unavoidable
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