Breakdown of Zij zullen waarschijnlijk ontdekken dat ze afstammen van voorouders die honderd jaar geleden verhuisden.
zij
they
honderd
one hundred
het jaar
the year
zullen
shall / will
verhuizen
to move (house)
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
waarschijnlijk
probably
ontdekken
to discover
dat
that (conjunction)
die
who / that (relative pronoun)
geleden
ago
de voorouder
the ancestor
afstammen
to descend
Questions & Answers about Zij zullen waarschijnlijk ontdekken dat ze afstammen van voorouders die honderd jaar geleden verhuisden.
How does the word geleden work in honderd jaar geleden?
Just like the word 'ago' in English, geleden is placed after the amount of time it refers to. Even though it does the job of a preposition, its placement at the end makes it a postposition. You will always see the time duration first, followed directly by geleden.
Why is it honderd jaar and not honderd jaren?
In Dutch, basic units of measurement, weight, and time (like jaar, uur, or kilo) usually stay in the singular form when they are preceded by a specific number, even when that number is larger than one.
Why is the verb verhuisden pushed to the very end of the sentence?
The word die introduces a relative clause that gives more information about the voorouders (ancestors). A relative clause follows the exact same word order rules as a standard subordinate clause, meaning the conjugated verb (verhuisden) gets pushed to the end.
In the dat clause, why does van voorouders come after the verb afstammen? Shouldn't the verb be the absolute last thing?
Normally, yes! In a subordinate clause starting with dat, verbs are pushed to the end. However, Dutch has a special exception: prepositional phrases (phrases starting with words like van, in, or met) can optionally be placed after the final verbs. This often makes sentences flow better.
Is afstammen a separable verb?
Yes, afstammen (to descend) is a separable verb made of af + stammen. If it were the main verb in a standard sentence, it would split (for example: Zij stammen af van...). But because it is inside a dat clause here, the verb moves to the end of that clause and the two parts join back together.
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