Breakdown of Ik geloof dat de magische fee ons heeft willen helpen.
ik
I
hebben
to have
helpen
to help
willen
to want
Questions & Answers about Ik geloof dat de magische fee ons heeft willen helpen.
Why are the verbs in the order heeft willen helpen?
In a subordinate clause starting with dat, all verbs are pushed to the end. Because this cluster has two infinitives (willen and helpen), the conjugated helping verb (heeft) must be placed before them. You cannot put heeft at the very end here!
Wait, shouldn't 'has wanted' use the past participle gewild instead of the infinitive willen?
Normally, yes. But Dutch has a special 'double infinitive' rule. When a helping verb like willen is used in the perfect tense together with another verb (helpen), it stays in its infinitive form instead of changing to a past participle.
Why does the adjective magische have an -e added to it?
The word for fairy is a de-word (de fee). Because the definite article de is used right before the adjective, you must add an -e ending to magisch.
Why does ons come before the verbs instead of after them, like in English?
In Dutch subordinate clauses, all the verbs are grouped together at the very end of the sentence. This means objects like ons have to come before the entire verb cluster, not after it.