Breakdown of De collega beweerde dat hij had aangetoond dat het excuus nep was.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
hebben
to have
de collega
the colleague
dat
that (conjunction)
nep
fake
beweren
to claim
het excuus
the excuse (neutral / apology)
aantonen
to demonstrate (to prove)
Questions & Answers about De collega beweerde dat hij had aangetoond dat het excuus nep was.
Why do we use the past perfect had aangetoond here instead of the present perfect heeft aangetoond?
This is the sequence of tenses in action. Because the main reporting verb beweerde (claimed) is in the past tense, the original statement shifts one step back in time. The colleague originally likely said "Ik heb aangetoond" (I have demonstrated), which becomes had aangetoond (had demonstrated) in reported speech.
Does the final verb was also shift its tense because of reported speech?
Exactly! The original direct speech was probably "Het excuus is nep" (The excuse is fake). Because the reporting verb beweerde is in the past tense, the present tense is shifts back to the simple past was.
We have two dat clauses in a row. How does this affect the word order?
dat (that) is a subordinating conjunction, meaning it pushes the verbs to the end of its clause. Since we have a clause within a clause, the rule applies to both separately: had aangetoond goes to the end of the first dat clause, and was goes to the end of the second dat clause.
I know the dictionary verb is aantonen (to demonstrate). How did we get the past participle aangetoond?
aantonen is a separable verb made of aan + tonen. When forming the past participle of a separable verb, the standard -ge- prefix gets squeezed between the separable part and the main verb. So, aan + ge + toond becomes aangetoond.
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