Breakdown of Het team heeft meegewerkt aan het project.
hebben
to have
het project
the project
het team
the team
aan
on / at (attached to, edge)
Questions & Answers about Het team heeft meegewerkt aan het project.
How do we get the past participle "meegewerkt" from the verb "meewerken"?
Meewerken (to cooperate or contribute) is a separable verb with the prefix mee-. To make the past participle, the -ge- is injected directly between the prefix and the verb root: mee + ge + werkt = meegewerkt.
What does the "mee-" part of "meewerken" add to the verb?
The prefix mee- usually means "along" or "with". So while werken means "to work", meewerken literally means "to work along", which is why it naturally translates to "to cooperate" or "to contribute".
Why do we use "aan" here to mean "to"?
The verb meewerken pairs with the fixed preposition aan when talking about what you are contributing to or working on. You cannot use naar, because naar is mostly used for physical movement toward a destination.
I thought the past participle "meegewerkt" had to go at the very end of the sentence. Why is it before "aan het project"?
Usually, past participles do go at the very end! But there is an exception for phrases that start with a preposition, like aan het project. These can optionally be placed after the past participle. You could also say Het team heeft aan het project meegewerkt, and it would be perfectly correct.