To say that something happened a certain amount of time "ago", use the word geleden.
Just like the English word ago, geleden is placed directly after a duration phrase, such as tien jaar (ten years).
| I read a lot about history ten years ago. | Ik las tien jaar geleden veel over geschiedenis. |
You can also place the time phrase at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize it. Remember that doing so triggers word order inversion, placing the verb before the subject.
| Two years ago I found our family tree in the archive. | Twee jaar geleden vond ik onze stamboom in het archief. |
This structure is especially useful when digging into your family's past (het verleden). You can combine geleden with terms like centuries (eeuwen) or generations (generaties) to discuss distant ancestors (voorouders).
| When I was young, I heard a story about an ancestor from three centuries ago. | Toen ik jong was, hoorde ik een verhaal over een voorouder van drie eeuwen geleden. |
| Five generations ago, the history of our family was very different. | Vijf generaties geleden was de geschiedenis van onze familie heel anders. |
| A century ago, few people knew who their distant ancestors were. | Een eeuw geleden wisten weinig mensen wie hun verre voorouders waren. |
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