We verwachten een aanzienlijke verbetering na zijn komst.

From Lesson 189:Since (sinds)·Dutch

Questions & Answers about We verwachten een aanzienlijke verbetering na zijn komst.

Why does aanzienlijke get an -e ending when it follows the indefinite article een?
Because verbetering is a de-word. As a reliable rule, all Dutch nouns ending in -ing are de-words. Adjectives placed before de-words always get an -e ending, even after een. You only drop the -e when an adjective comes before a het-word preceded by een.
Is the word komst related to the verb komen?
Yes, komst (arrival or coming) is a noun directly derived from komen (to come). You will also see this in common compound nouns like aankomst (arrival of a train or flight) or bijeenkomst (a meeting or gathering).
Since the current lesson focuses on time conjunctions, why do we use na here instead of nadat?
Nadat (after) is a subordinating conjunction, which means it must introduce a full subclause with a subject and a verb. Because zijn komst (his arrival) is just a noun phrase without a verb, we must use the preposition na instead. You would use nadat if you phrased it as a clause: nadat hij is gekomen (after he has come).
Can I move na zijn komst to the beginning of the sentence?
Yes, bringing the time phrase to the front is very common in Dutch for emphasis. If you do this, it triggers inversion, meaning the verb and subject swap places. The sentence would become: Na zijn komst verwachten we een aanzienlijke verbetering.

Learn We verwachten een aanzienlijke verbetering na zijn komst 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