Breakdown of Wij hebben ons afgevraagd waarom hij dat heeft gedaan.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
wij
we
hebben
to have
doen
to do
Questions & Answers about Wij hebben ons afgevraagd waarom hij dat heeft gedaan.
Why do we use hebben as the helping verb for ons afgevraagd?
In Dutch, all reflexive verbs use hebben in the present perfect tense. Even if you have learned that some verbs use zijn to show a change of state or motion, a reflexive verb like zich afvragen (to wonder) will always stick with hebben.
Where exactly does the reflexive pronoun ons go in a present perfect sentence?
In a normal main clause, the reflexive pronoun comes immediately after the conjugated verb. Here, ons sits right behind hebben, while the past participle afgevraagd is pushed all the way to the end of that clause.
Why does the past participle afgevraagd have -ge- in the middle?
The infinitive is zich afvragen, which is a separable verb. When making a past participle for a separable verb, the -ge- piece squeezes right between the prefix (af-) and the rest of the verb (vraagd).
Why are both heeft and gedaan at the very end of the second part?
The word waarom (why) introduces a subordinate clause. In these clauses, all the verbs get kicked to the end of the sentence. By the way, the order of the two verbs is flexible here: saying waarom hij dat gedaan heeft is also perfectly fine!