Breakdown of Wij zouden u vooraf hebben ingelicht.
u
you (formal)
wij
we
hebben
to have
zullen
shall / will
vooraf
beforehand / in advance
inlichten
to inform
Questions & Answers about Wij zouden u vooraf hebben ingelicht.
How is the "would have informed" structure built in this sentence?
You use the past tense of zullen (here, zouden for "we would") as the conjugated verb in the second position. Then, you put the infinitive hebben (to have) and the past participle ingelicht (informed) together at the very end of the sentence.
Can I switch the order of the verbs at the end and say ingelicht hebben?
Yes! In a verb cluster at the end of a main clause, the order of the past participle (ingelicht) and the auxiliary verb (hebben) is flexible. Both hebben ingelicht and ingelicht hebben are completely correct and natural to say.
Why does the past participle ingelicht have -ge- in the middle?
It comes from the separable verb inlichten (to inform). When you make a past participle out of a separable verb, the standard ge- part gets squeezed between the separable prefix (in-) and the core verb, giving you ingelicht.
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