Breakdown of Nadat we in de kelder rondkeken, vonden we de aanwijzing.
in
in
vinden
to find
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
nadat
after
de aanwijzing
the clue
de kelder
the basement
rondkijken
to look around
Questions & Answers about Nadat we in de kelder rondkeken, vonden we de aanwijzing.
How would I use er in this sentence to say "After we looked around there" instead of "in the basement"?
You would replace the location (in de kelder) with er. The sentence becomes: Nadat we er rondkeken, vonden we de aanwijzing. In Dutch, er is frequently used as an unstressed word for "there" when referring back to a place.
Why does the second part say vonden we instead of we vonden?
This is a great example of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire first part of the sentence (Nadat we in de kelder rondkeken) acts as the first block of information. The main verb (vonden) must take the second position, so it jumps in front of the subject (we).
Rondkijken (to look around) is a separable verb. Why aren't the two parts separated here?
Because it is in a subclause. The word nadat (after) introduces a subclause, which pushes the verb to the end. When a separable verb gets sent to the end of a subclause, the prefix (rond) and the verb (keken) stick together as one single word.
Could I just use na instead of nadat?
No, you have to use nadat here. Na is used before a noun phrase, like in na de film (after the movie). Nadat is used when you are introducing a full clause that has its own subject and verb, like we in de kelder rondkeken.
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