Grammatica - loco

11
Verbs
228
(c) In formal style the verbs dienen and (be)horen can replace moeten in
the sense of ‘to be obliged to’. They are always followed by te:
Alle passagiers dienen zich vóór acht uur bij loket vier te
melden.
All passengers should register at counter four before eight o’clock.
Bij het binnengaan van een kerk, behoren de heren hun hoed
af te nemen.
On entering a church, gentlemen must (= are required to) remove
their hats.
11.8.5.3
mogen
(a) In addition to the basic meaning of ‘to be allowed to’, mogen also
renders the verb ‘to like’ (of people), e.g. Ik mag hem graag ‘I like him
a lot’, as distinct from ik hou van hem ‘I love him’; otherwise one must
say Ik vind hem aardig to express ‘to like’.
(b) There is one use of mogen, commonly combined with the adverbs
wel eens, which means ‘could, would be better if’:
Je mag je kamer wel eens opruimen.
You could tidy up your room (to begin with).
Hij mag zich wel eens omkleden.
He could change his clothes (once in a while).
(c) There is a polite, obsolete first person present subjunctive form of
mogen that occurs in formal letters:
Naar aanleiding van uw schrijven van 21 december jl. moge ik
u mededelen . . .
With reference to your letter of the 21st December last I would like
to inform you . . .
A third person present subjunctive form moge meaning ‘may’ occurs
in standard idioms expressing a desire:
Moge hij rusten in vrede (= Hij ruste in vrede).
May he rest in peace.
Note also the following use of subjunctive moge which lingers on as
a standard expression:
Waar hij ook moge zijn op de wereld, hij is dankzij zijn
mobiele telefoon altijd te bereiken.
Wherever he may be in the world, thanks to his mobile phone he can
always be contacted.