Breakdown of Kennelijk had de dief gezegd dat hij de moord had toegegeven.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
hebben
to have
zeggen
to say
dat
that (conjunction)
de moord
the murder
de dief
the thief
toegeven
to admit
kennelijk
apparently
Questions & Answers about Kennelijk had de dief gezegd dat hij de moord had toegegeven.
Why does the second part of the sentence use had toegegeven instead of heeft toegegeven?
This happens because of the rules for reported speech. The thief originally probably used the present perfect tense: Ik heb de moord toegegeven (I have admitted the murder). But since the reporting part of the sentence is in the past (had gezegd), the original tense must shift one step further back into the past perfect (had toegegeven) to match it.
Why is the first part of the sentence had de dief instead of de dief had?
This is because the sentence starts with the adverb kennelijk (apparently). In Dutch, if you start a main clause with anything other than the subject, the verb and subject swap places. This rule is known as inversion.
At the end of the sentence, could I switch the verbs and say toegegeven had?
Yes, absolutely! Because dat introduces a subordinate clause, all the verbs are pushed to the end. When you have a helper verb (had) and a past participle (toegegeven) together at the end of a clause, you can put them in either order. Both had toegegeven and toegegeven had are perfectly correct.
How is the word toegegeven formed?
It is the past participle of the verb toegeven (to admit). Because toegeven is a separable verb made of toe plus geven, the ge- part that normally starts a past participle is placed right in the middle. This creates toe-ge-geven.
Learn Kennelijk had de dief gezegd dat hij de moord had toegegeven 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