Breakdown of Zij zouden het dak voor ons hebben hersteld.
zij
they
hebben
to have
zullen
shall / will
ons
us (object)
Questions & Answers about Zij zouden het dak voor ons hebben hersteld.
How do we build "would have repaired" in this sentence?
You use the past tense of zullen (which is zouden here for "they") + hebben (have) + the past participle hersteld (repaired). The conjugated verb zouden sits in the normal second position, while the other two verbs are pushed to the end of the sentence to form a verb cluster.
Can I change the order of hebben and hersteld at the end of the sentence?
Yes! When a past participle (hersteld) and an auxiliary verb (hebben) sit together at the end of a clause, their order is flexible in Dutch. Both hebben hersteld and hersteld hebben are completely natural and grammatically correct.
Why does the past participle hersteld end with a d and not a t?
This follows the 't kofschip rule. The stem of the verb herstellen (to repair) ends in l. Because l is not one of the voiceless consonants in 't kofschip (t, k, f, s, ch, p), we use a -d to form the past participle.
Could I use ze instead of zij at the start of this sentence?