Breakdown of Hij beweerde dat hij niet overdreef.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
niet
not
dat
that (conjunction)
beweren
to claim
overdrijven
to exaggerate
Questions & Answers about Hij beweerde dat hij niet overdreef.
How does the sequence of tenses work in this reported speech?
The original statement was in the present tense: I am not exaggerating (Ik overdrijf niet). Because the reporting verb is in the simple past (beweerde), the verb in the dat clause must also shift back one step to the simple past (overdreef).
Where does the verb overdreef come from?
It is the simple past tense of overdrijven (to exaggerate). It is an irregular verb that follows a common vowel shift from ij to ee in the singular past tense, just like blijven becomes bleef.
The English translation says was not exaggerating. Can I translate this as dat hij niet aan het overdrijven was?
You could, but Dutch uses continuous forms much less frequently than English does. In reported speech like this, it is far more natural to just use the simple past tense overdreef.
Why does overdreef go at the very end of the sentence?
The word dat introduces a subordinate clause. As a rule in Dutch, a subordinate clause pushes the conjugated verb all the way to the end of its phrase.
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