Breakdown of Hij heeft veel voor het examen gestudeerd.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
hebben
to have
veel
much / many / a lot of
voor
to (time), before
het examen
the exam
studeren
to study
Questions & Answers about Hij heeft veel voor het examen gestudeerd.
Why are "heeft" and "gestudeerd" so far apart in this sentence?
In Dutch, the present perfect tense uses a helper verb (hebben or zijn) and a past participle (like gestudeerd). The helper verb (heeft) takes the normal second position in the sentence, but the past participle is pushed all the way to the very end.
How is the past participle "gestudeerd" formed?
For regular verbs, you take the stem of the verb (studeer), add ge- to the front, and either -t or -d to the end. So studeer becomes gestudeerd.
Why does "gestudeerd" end in a "-d" instead of a "-t"?
This follows the "'t kofschip" rule. You look at the last letter of the verb stem, which is "r" in studeer. Because "r" is not one of the voiceless consonants in the word "'t kofschip" (t, k, f, s, ch, p), the past participle gets a -d.
Is "examen" a "de" word or a "het" word?
As you can see from the phrase voor het examen, it is a het word. It is always a good idea to memorize nouns with their matching article.
Can I say "Hij heeft gestudeerd veel voor het examen" to match the English word order?
No, that is grammatically incorrect in Dutch. Because the past participle (gestudeerd) must go at the end of the sentence, extra information like how much (veel) and what for (voor het examen) must be sandwiched between the helper verb and the past participle.
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