Breakdown of Ze hebben zich snel aangepast aan de nieuwe regels.
hebben
to have
snel
fast
nieuw
new
de regel
the rule
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
aan
to (recipient)
zich aanpassen
to adapt
Questions & Answers about Ze hebben zich snel aangepast aan de nieuwe regels.
Why does this sentence use hebben when adapting is a change of state? Shouldn't it use zijn?
In Dutch, all reflexive verbs (verbs that require a reflexive pronoun like zich) always use hebben in the present perfect tense. Even though adapting feels like a change of state, zich aanpassen must take hebben.
Where does the reflexive pronoun zich go in the word order here?
In a normal main clause, the reflexive pronoun is placed directly after the conjugated verb. Since the subject is at the beginning, zich immediately follows hebben.
How is the past participle aangepast formed?
The infinitive is aanpassen, which is a separable verb. When making the past participle, the ge- part gets squeezed between the separable prefix (aan) and the verb stem (pas). Because the stem ends in an 's', we add a 't' at the end, creating aangepast.
Why does the word aan appear twice in a row as in aangepast aan?
It is not a typo! The first aan is the prefix attached to the verb aanpassen (to adapt). The second aan is a fixed preposition meaning 'to', because in Dutch you adapt to something (zich aanpassen aan).
Learn Ze hebben zich snel aangepast aan de nieuwe regels and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free