Checking why a payment card was blocked | Learn Dutch in English

Sentence explanations

1. Mijn kaart werd geweigerd, maar de rekening zou nog steeds actief moeten zijn.

   My card was declined, but the account should still be active.

   kaart

   card

   werd geweigerd

   was declined

   rekening

   account

   zou

   should

   nog steeds

   still

   actief

   active

   moeten zijn

   need to be

   More detail

   kaart means “card” here. The plural is kaarten; the singular form is used because the sentence refers to one card. Example: Mijn kaart is nieuw. — “My card is new.” werd geweigerd says that the card was declined. This is a passive construction: werd is the past form of worden, and geweigerd is the past participle of weigeren (“to refuse” or “decline”). The card is presented as the thing affected by the refusal. Example: De betaling werd geweigerd. — “The payment was declined.” rekening means “account” in this context, especially an account with a financial institution. Its plural is rekeningen. Example: De rekening is actief. — “The account is active.” zou is the past-tense form of zullen. In this sentence, together with moeten zijn, it expresses an expectation or conclusion rather than a firm statement: “should.” Do not read the past form here as simply placing the account in the past. nog steeds means “still”: the stated condition is expected to continue despite the preceding event. Example: Ze woont nog steeds hier. — “She still lives here.” actief is the adjective “active.” It describes the account’s current status here. Example: De kaart is actief. — “The card is active.” moeten zijn combines moeten (“must” or “need to”) with zijn (“to be”). In the pattern zou ... moeten zijn, it expresses a softened expectation: “should be.” Zijn is the infinitive required after the modal verb moeten; actief describes the subject’s state. The sentence has two clauses joined by maar (“but”). Mijn kaart werd geweigerd means “My card was declined.” De rekening zou nog steeds actief moeten zijn means “The account should still be active”: zou ... moeten zijn marks this as an expectation, while nog steeds says that the expected active status continues. Together: “My card was declined, but the account should still be active.”

2. Het kan zijn dat de kaart is geblokkeerd nadat het systeem ongebruikelijke activiteit had gedetecteerd.

   It may have been blocked after the system flagged unusual activity.

   Het kan zijn dat

   It may be that

   kaart

   card

   geblokkeerd

   blocked

   nadat

   after

   systeem

   system

   ongebruikelijke

   unusual

   activiteit

   activity

   gedetecteerd

   detected

   More detail

   Het kan zijn dat introduces a possibility: “it may be that …”. Here kan is the present-tense form of kunnen for het, while zijn is the infinitive of zijn. Dutch commonly uses this impersonal pattern when the speaker does not present the following situation as certain. The clause after dat is subordinate, so its finite verb appears at the end of that clause. kaart means “card”; in this sentence it is the card referred to in the fixed translation as “it.” The noun is a singular de-word: de kaart. A useful contrast is kaarten for “cards,” the plural form. geblokkeerd is the past participle of blokkeren, “to block.” With is, the phrase is geblokkeerd expresses a passive result: the card has been blocked / is blocked. The agent who blocked it is not stated. Do not confuse geblokkeerd with the finite present form blokkeert (“blocks” or “is blocking”). nadat means “after” and introduces a subordinate clause describing an earlier event. In Dutch, the finite verb in this type of clause is placed at the end: nadat het systeem ... had gedetecteerd. systeem means “system.” It is a singular het-word: het systeem. In the clause here, it is the grammatical subject of had gedetecteerd, so the system is presented as the one that detected something. ongebruikelijke means “unusual” or “atypical” here. It is the adjective ongebruikelijk with the -e ending used before the singular de-noun activiteit: ongebruikelijke activiteit. The adjective describes the activity, not the system. activiteit means “activity.” It is a singular de-word: de activiteit; its plural is activiteiten. In this sentence it is the object of gedetecteerd, namely what the system detected. gedetecteerd is the past participle of detecteren, “to detect.” Together with had, had gedetecteerd is the pluperfect: “had detected.” This places the detection before the blocking referred to in is geblokkeerd. The subject is het systeem, while ongebruikelijke activiteit is the detected object. Putting the parts together, Het kan zijn dat marks the whole following situation as possible. de kaart is geblokkeerd says that the card has been blocked, and nadat het systeem ongebruikelijke activiteit had gedetecteerd gives the earlier condition: the system had detected unusual activity. The complete meaning is: “It may have been blocked after the system flagged unusual activity.”

3. Ik was onlangs op reis, dus dat kan de blokkering hebben veroorzaakt.

   I was traveling recently, so that might have triggered it.

   Ik was

   I was

   onlangs

   recently

   op reis

   traveling; on a trip

   dus

   so

   dat

   that

   kan

   might; can

   blokkering

   blocking; blockage

   veroorzaakt

   caused; triggered

   More detail

   Ik was means “I was.” was is the first-person singular past form of zijn (“to be”): ik ben = “I am,” while ik was = “I was.” Here it places the speaker in that situation in the past; it does not by itself state exactly how long the situation lasted. onlangs is the adverb “recently.” It locates the situation relatively near the relevant past time. For example: Ik was onlangs in Brussel. — “I was recently in Brussels.” op reis is a reusable Dutch expression meaning “on a trip” or, in this sentence, “traveling.” The preposition op is part of this expression, so it is learned as a unit rather than translated word for word. For example: Zij zijn op reis. — “They are traveling.” dus connects the preceding situation with a consequence or conclusion: “so” or “therefore.” It introduces the proposed explanation that follows. For example: Het regent, dus ik blijf binnen. — “It is raining, so I am staying inside.” dat means “that” here and points back to the preceding situation, being recently on a trip. In this use it functions as a demonstrative pronoun referring to an already mentioned fact or situation, rather than naming a new concrete object. Its exact grammatical form is not determined by the nearby noun blokkering. kan is the present-tense form of the modal verb kunnen with ik, singular hij, singular zij, or het as subject; in this construction it expresses possibility, best translated “might” or “may.” The form does not itself mark past time. Past possibility is built here by combining kan with the perfect infinitive that follows: kan ... hebben veroorzaakt = “might have caused.” For comparison, kan can also mean “can” when it expresses ability or a general possibility. blokkering is the noun “blockage” or “blocking.” Its base form is the noun itself; it is a de-word, as shown by the full phrase de blokkering. In this sentence it is the thing that may have been caused. The definite article identifies a specific blockage in the situation, but it does not by itself state a numerical count. veroorzaakt is the past participle of veroorzaken, “to cause.” In hebben veroorzaakt, it forms the perfect infinitive “to have caused.” The complete verb construction kan ... hebben veroorzaakt expresses a possible completed cause: “might have caused” or “might have triggered.” The participle is attached to veroorzaken, not to the noun blokkering. Together, Ik was onlangs op reis says that the speaker was recently traveling. dus marks this as the proposed reason, and dat kan de blokkering hebben veroorzaakt says that this situation might have caused the specific blockage. The whole utterance therefore means: “I was traveling recently, so that might have triggered it.”

4. Dat zou logisch zijn, maar we moeten uw identiteit nog steeds verifiëren.

   That would make sense, but we still need to verify your identity.

   Dat

   that

   zou

   would

   logisch

   logical; sensible

   zijn

   be

   maar

   but

   we moeten

   we need to; we must

   uw

   your

   identiteit

   identity

   nog steeds

   still

   verifiëren

   verify

   More detail

   Dat means “that” here and points to the situation under discussion, rather than naming a person or object. As a Dutch demonstrative pronoun, dat is the neuter singular form; the specific situation is supported by the fixed translation and context. zou is the past-tense form of zullen, used here to express “would.” The pattern zou ... zijn gives a hypothetical or conditional assessment: “would be.” In a different construction, zou can also contribute a reported or future-in-the-past meaning, but that is not the intended reading here. logisch means “logical” or, in this context, “sensible.” It is an adjective. The common related form logischer is the comparative “more logical,” while meest logisch is the superlative “most logical.” Example: Dat klinkt logisch. — “That sounds sensible.” zijn is the infinitive “be.” With zou, it forms zou ... zijn, literally a conditional “would be” pattern. The infinitive remains zijn; it is not changed to agree with dat. maar introduces a contrast and means “but.” It connects the sensible hypothetical assessment with the separate need stated afterward. we moeten combines the subject pronoun we (“we”) with present-tense plural moeten, whose base form is also moeten. In this sentence, moeten expresses necessity: “we need to” or “we must.” A modal verb such as moeten normally places the following lexical verb in the infinitive at the end of the clause. Example: We moeten wachten. — “We have to wait.” uw is the formal possessive determiner “your.” It is used for the person being addressed and does not change according to the gender or number of the possessed noun. Here it modifies identiteit; the possession is formal, not a statement about quantity. identiteit means “identity.” It is a noun, and its definite form is de identiteit; the indefinite form is een identiteit. In the fixed sentence, uw identiteit is the object of the required verification. nog steeds is the adverbial expression “still.” Together it indicates that the need remains in force at this point. Example: Ik wacht nog steeds. — “I am still waiting.” verifiëren is the infinitive “verify.” It is the base form selected after moeten; Dutch places this infinitive at the end of the clause here. A useful present-tense contrast is ik verifieer (“I verify”) versus we verifiëren (“we verify”), while after moeten the infinitive is used: We moeten verifiëren. — “We need to verify.” The complete structure is Dat zou logisch zijn, “That would make sense,” followed by maar, “but.” The second clause has we moeten (“we need to”), the object uw identiteit (“your identity”), the continuing-time expression nog steeds (“still”), and the final infinitive verifiëren (“verify”). Together, the utterance means: “That would make sense, but we still need to verify your identity.”

5. Kunnen we dat controleren zonder elke aankoop door te nemen?

   Can we check that without going through every purchase?

   Kunnen we

   Can we

   dat

   that

   controleren

   check

   zonder

   without

   elke

   every

   aankoop

   purchase

   door te nemen

   go through

   More detail

   Kunnen we puts a yes/no question in the modal verb kunnen (“can, be able to”) followed by the subject we (“we”). Here, kunnen asks whether the speakers can do something. The modal is followed by an infinitive: Kunnen we wachten? — “Can we wait?” dat means “that” here and refers to the thing the speakers want to check. Its specific referent is not identified in the fixed sentence. Dutch uses dat for a singular neuter demonstrative referent; this grammatical form does not by itself identify what the referent is. controleren is the infinitive “to check” or “to verify.” After a modal such as kunnen, Dutch uses the infinitive without te: We kunnen dit controleren — “We can check this.” zonder means “without.” Before an action expressed with an infinitive, it commonly forms the pattern zonder te + infinitive: zonder te bellen — “without calling.” In this sentence, the action is expressed by the separable verb doornemen, so te appears inside the infinitive as door te nemen. elke means “every” or “each.” It normally accompanies a singular noun: elke dag — “every day.” It is different from plural alle (“all”), as in alle dagen — “all days.” aankoop is the noun “purchase.” Its plural is aankopen: een aankoop — “a purchase”; twee aankopen — “two purchases.” In elke aankoop, the singular noun presents the purchases individually as the items covered by the review. door te nemen comes from the separable verb doornemen, meaning “to go through,” “to review,” or “to examine.” In a finite clause, the parts can separate: We nemen de lijst door — “We go through the list.” With te, the form is de lijst door te nemen — “to go through the list.” Together, dat controleren means “check that,” while zonder elke aankoop door te nemen means “without going through every purchase.” The whole utterance is a yes/no question: “Can we check that without going through every purchase?” It asks whether the check can be done without reviewing each purchase individually.

6. We hebben alleen een bevestiging van uw identiteit nodig en een algemeen beeld van uw recente activiteit.

   We only need identity confirmation and a general sense of recent activity.

   hebben

   have

   alleen

   only

   bevestiging

   confirmation

   uw

   your

   identiteit

   identity

   nodig

   needed

   algemeen

   general

   beeld

   picture; sense

   recente

   recent

   activiteit

   activity

   More detail

   hebben is the present-tense form of hebben (“to have”) for we and other plural subjects. In this sentence it combines with nodig in the reusable pattern iets nodig hebben, meaning “to need something”: We hebben tijd nodig. — “We need time.” The needed items can come before or after nodig, depending on the sentence structure. alleen means “only” here. It limits what is needed: the sentence presents the confirmation and the general sense as sufficient, rather than saying that every detail is needed. Its position directly after We hebben gives the sentence the pattern We hebben alleen ... nodig — “We only need ...”. bevestiging is a noun meaning “confirmation”. Its plural is bevestigingen. In een bevestiging van uw identiteit, it names the first thing that is needed. van links this confirmation to what is being confirmed: bevestiging van X means “confirmation of X”. uw is the second-person possessive determiner “your”, in the form used here. It does not change to agree with the possessed noun’s gender or number: uw identiteit, uw beeld, and uw activiteiten all use uw. The exact referent of “your” is supplied by the situation, not by the form itself. identiteit is a noun meaning “identity”. It is the object of the preposition van, so van uw identiteit means “of your identity”. The sentence therefore specifies what kind of confirmation is meant, rather than naming a confirmation without a subject. nodig means “needed” in this construction. Dutch commonly expresses “to need” with nodig hebben, literally combining nodig with a form of hebben; the form hebben carries the subject and tense. For example, Zij heeft hulp nodig. — “She needs help.” Here nodig applies to both coordinated things: the confirmation and the general sense. algemeen means “general” and describes beeld. Because beeld is a singular neuter noun and appears after the indefinite article een, the adjective has this form without -e: een algemeen beeld. Compare the definite form het algemene beeld — “the general picture.” beeld literally means “picture” or “image”, but in een algemeen beeld van ... it means a general picture, overview, or sense of something. The construction een beeld van X is reusable: We krijgen een beeld van de situatie. — “We get an idea of the situation.” recente means “recent” and describes activiteit. The base form is recent; the -e form appears here before the noun: uw recente activiteit. A related contrast is oude activiteit (“old activity”), where oude describes activity from an earlier period. activiteit is a noun meaning “activity”. Its plural is activiteiten. In this sentence it refers generally to activity rather than asserting a specific count of activities; uw recente activiteit is therefore “your recent activity” as a general area of information. The complete structure is We hebben alleen [een bevestiging van uw identiteit] nodig en [een algemeen beeld van uw recente activiteit]. The subject We and verb construction hebben ... nodig express what is needed; alleen restricts the request; en joins two coordinated needed items. The full meaning is: “We only need identity confirmation and a general sense of recent activity.”

7. Dat klinkt redelijker dan elke transactie op te sommen.

   That sounds more reasonable than listing every transaction.

   Dat

   That

   klinkt

   sounds

   redelijker

   more reasonable

   dan

   than

   elke

   every

   transactie

   transaction

   op te sommen

   to list

   More detail

   Dat is a Dutch demonstrative pronoun used here as the subject. It refers to the situation or proposal being evaluated, and its neuter singular form is dat; the form is not a claim that a particular noun is the referent. Compare dit “this” for something nearer or more immediate. Example: Dat is duidelijk. — “That is clear.” klinkt comes from klinken “to sound”. It is the present-tense form for a singular third-person subject, matching dat: dat klinkt — “that sounds”. The verb describes how something appears from what is heard or inferred, not necessarily a literal noise. Example: Dat klinkt goed. — “That sounds good.” redelijker is the comparative form of the adjective redelijk “reasonable”. The comparison is carried by redelijker, while dat is the thing being judged. Dutch commonly uses -er for this comparison: redelijk → redelijker; the superlative is redelijkst in appropriate constructions. Example: Deze oplossing is redelijker. — “This solution is more reasonable.” dan introduces the second side of a comparison. The pattern is X is/klinkt [comparative] dan Y: “X is/sounds more … than Y.” Here it connects the assessment of dat with the alternative action that follows. elke means “every” in the distributive sense. It is used with a singular countable noun, so elke transactie presents the transactions one by one as a complete set; it does not itself state a numerical count. Compare plural alle transacties — “all transactions”. Example: Elke klant krijgt een bericht. — “Every customer receives a message.” transactie is the noun “transaction”. Its plural is transacties. In this sentence it is singular because elke takes a singular noun, even though the phrase refers distributively to the full set. Example: De transactie is bevestigd. — “The transaction has been confirmed.” op te sommen is the split infinitive construction from the separable verb opsommen, “to list” or “to enumerate”. With te, the prefix appears at the end of the infinitive phrase: op te sommen. The form is used here as the action being compared with the other option. Example: Het is moeilijk om alle namen op te sommen. — “It is difficult to list all the names.” Together, dat klinkt redelijker means “that sounds more reasonable”. dan elke transactie op te sommen supplies the comparison: “than listing every transaction”. The complete utterance therefore means: “That sounds more reasonable than listing every transaction.”

8. Zodra uw identiteit is geverifieerd, kunnen we de blokkering meestal meteen opnieuw bekijken.

   Once your identity is verified, we can usually review the block right away.

   Zodra

   once; as soon as

   uw identiteit

   your identity

   is geverifieerd

   is verified

   kunnen we

   we can

   de blokkering

   the block

   meestal

   usually

   meteen

   right away

   opnieuw

   again

   bekijken

   review; look at

   More detail

   Zodra introduces a time condition: the main action becomes possible once the event in this clause has happened. It is a useful reusable connector for “once/as soon as.” Example: Zodra hij arriveert, beginnen we. — “As soon as he arrives, we begin.” uw identiteit means “your identity.” Uw is the formal or polite possessive form corresponding to “your.” In this sentence it is written lowercase as uw; capitalization can vary with formality conventions. Identiteit is a noun meaning “identity.” is geverifieerd means “is verified.” The base verb is verifiëren (“to verify”); geverifieerd is its past participle. Here is is the finite form of zijn (“to be”), and the phrase presents the identity as verified. The singular form is agrees with uw identiteit, not with the person who performed the verification. Example: De aanvraag is goedgekeurd. — “The application has been approved.” kunnen we expresses “we can.” Kunnen is the present-tense form of the modal verb kunnen (“can, be able to”) used with we. Because the sentence begins with the subordinate clause Zodra uw identiteit is geverifieerd, the finite verb comes before the subject in the following main clause: Zodra ... , kunnen we ... The modal is followed later by the infinitive bekijken. de blokkering means “the block,” specifically the blocking action or restriction referred to in the fixed translation. Blokkering is a noun related to blokkeren (“to block”). The definite article de marks this as a particular restriction identifiable in the situation; it does not by itself state how many blocks there are. meestal means “usually” or “in most cases.” It modifies the usual frequency of the review, rather than naming a person or object. Example: We antwoorden meestal dezelfde dag. — “We usually reply the same day.” meteen means “right away” or “immediately.” It places the action close in time to the point at which the condition is satisfied. It is different from meestal: meestal concerns frequency, while meteen concerns timing. opnieuw means “again.” It signals that the review is repeated or resumed, without specifying when an earlier review occurred. Example: Lees de zin opnieuw. — “Read the sentence again.” bekijken means “to review” or “to look at.” Its base form is the infinitive bekijken, which follows the modal kunnen in this sentence. Unlike a separable verb, bekijken remains together in this infinitive; its be- prefix is not separated in the sentence pattern shown here. Example: We bekijken het document morgen. — “We will review the document tomorrow.” Together, Zodra uw identiteit is geverifieerd sets the condition and time: “Once your identity is verified.” The main clause kunnen we de blokkering meestal meteen opnieuw bekijken says that “we” can usually review the block again right away. The complete meaning is therefore: “Once your identity is verified, we can usually review the block again right away.”