Breakdown of Na te zijn geslaagd, schud ik de hand van de examinator.
ik
I
zijn
to be
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
slagen
to pass
de hand
the hand
te
to (infinitive marker)
na
after (preposition)
schudden
to shake
de examinator
the examiner
Questions & Answers about Na te zijn geslaagd, schud ik de hand van de examinator.
Why do we use zijn instead of hebben in na te zijn geslaagd?
The verb slagen (to pass or succeed) takes zijn in the perfect tense, not hebben. So, just like you would say Ik ben geslaagd (I have passed), the perfect infinitive form uses zijn to become na te zijn geslaagd (after having passed).
Could I change the word order to na geslaagd te zijn?
Yes, you can! In these perfect infinitive clauses, both na te zijn geslaagd and na geslaagd te zijn are grammatically correct and mean exactly the same thing. Putting te zijn (or te hebben) before the past participle is slightly more formal but very common.
Why is the main clause schud ik instead of ik schud?
Because the sentence starts with a dependent clause (Na te zijn geslaagd), that entire phrase counts as the first block of information in the sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position (the V2 rule), the subject and verb in the main clause must invert, so schud comes before ik.
Why does the Dutch sentence say de hand instead of something like 'zijn hand' or 'handen'?
In Dutch, the standard expression for shaking someone's hand is de hand schudden van (to shake the hand of) or iemand de hand schudden. Using the definite article de is the most natural way to phrase this action, whereas English tends to use a possessive ('his hand') or a plural ('shake hands').
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