Grammatica - loco

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Dit is de rekening die gisteren door hem werd betaald.
This is the bill which was paid by him yesterday.
Dit is de gisteren door hem betaalde rekening.
Dat is het bedrag dat nog door hem betaald moet worden.
That is the amount that still has to be paid by him.
Dat is het door hem nog te betalen bedrag.
Such constructions must be translated into English with relative clauses in
the passive, as illustrated.
11.12.4.8
There are some impersonal English passives which are rendered in Dutch
by an infinitive construction, thus avoiding the passive altogether:
Er was niemand te zien. There was nobody to be seen.
Dat was te verwachten. That was to be expected.
Dat is te hopen. That is to be hoped.
Waar is het boek te verkrijgen? Where can that book be
obtained?
11.12.4.9
Use of men/je/ze instead of the passive
It should be noted that the passive in all its forms is more common in
English than in Dutch. Very often the Dutch use an active form of the
verb with men ‘one’ or je ‘you’ as its subject.
Hier spreekt men Nederlands.
Dutch is spoken here.
Men/je kan koeien met de hand melken.
Cows can be milked by hand/You can milk cows by hand.
Men is as formal in Dutch as ‘one’ is in English. In everyday speech je
(never jij) is used, just as in English, as illustrated by the previous example.
English can also use a non-personal ‘they’ instead of the passive; Dutch
has this too and uses ze (never zij):
Ze zeggen dat het gaat regenen. (= men zegt)
They say it’s going to rain.
The passive
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