Breakdown of Na achteruit te hebben gereden, heb ik naar de examinator gekeken.
ik
I
hebben
to have
naar
to
kijken
to watch
rijden
to drive
te
to (infinitive marker)
na
after (preposition)
achteruit
backwards / in reverse
de examinator
the examiner
Questions & Answers about Na achteruit te hebben gereden, heb ik naar de examinator gekeken.
How does the na ... te hebben structure work in this sentence?
The phrase na ... te is used to say 'after doing' something. Because the action was already completed, we use the perfect infinitive: te hebben gereden (to have driven). The detail word achteruit goes right before this verb block.
The verb rijden often uses zijn in the perfect tense. Why does it use hebben here?
Why does the second part of the sentence start with heb ik instead of ik heb?
The entire first clause (Na achteruit te hebben gereden) counts as the first block of information in the sentence. Because the main verb must always come in the second position in a Dutch sentence, the verb heb comes right after the comma, pushing the subject ik behind it.
Why do we use naar with gekeken in the second clause?
In Dutch, the verb kijken (to look) pairs with the preposition naar when you are looking at a specific person or thing. So 'I looked at the examiner' becomes ik heb naar de examinator gekeken.
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