Breakdown of De man zegt dat lucht zijn element is geweest.
zijn
to be
de man
the man
zeggen
to say
dat
that (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about De man zegt dat lucht zijn element is geweest.
Could I change the order of the verbs at the end to geweest is?
Yes! Because this is a subordinate clause starting with dat, the verbs go to the end. For a two-verb cluster with an auxiliary (is) and a past participle (geweest), you can choose either order. is geweest is known as the red word order, and geweest is is the green word order. Both are perfectly correct.
Why do we use is here instead of heeft to mean 'has been'?
In Dutch, the verb zijn (to be) uses zijn as its helping verb in the perfect tense, not hebben. So 'has been' is formed literally as 'is been' (is geweest).
Wait, I see the word zijn in the middle of the sentence. Is that the verb 'to be'?
No, in this specific spot, zijn is the possessive pronoun meaning 'his' (his element). It looks exactly like the infinitive verb zijn, but context tells us it is attached to the noun element.
Why isn't there a definite article before lucht? Shouldn't it be de lucht?
Just like in English, Dutch often drops the article for uncountable substances or abstract concepts when speaking generally about them. If you said de lucht here, it would sound more like 'the sky' or a specific pocket of air, rather than the general element.