Breakdown of Na de regels te hebben geleerd, mag je het examen aanvragen.
hebben
to have
leren
to learn
mogen
to be allowed to / may
het
it
de regel
the rule
het examen
the exam
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
te
to (infinitive marker)
na
after (preposition)
aanvragen
to apply for
Questions & Answers about Na de regels te hebben geleerd, mag je het examen aanvragen.
How does the phrase na de regels te hebben geleerd work?
This translates to "after having learned the rules." The structure is na (after) + object (de regels) + te hebben (to have) + past participle (geleerd). It is used to show that this action was completely finished before the main action begins.
Why is the order te hebben geleerd and not te geleerd hebben?
In perfect infinitive clauses, te hebben (or te zijn) usually comes right before the past participle. Luckily, this matches the English word order perfectly: "to have" (te hebben) "learned" (geleerd).
Why does the main clause use inversion (mag je) instead of normal word order (je mag)?
The entire first clause (Na de regels te hebben geleerd) counts as the first block of information in the sentence. To satisfy the Dutch verb-second rule, the conjugated verb mag comes right after the comma, pushing the subject je into the third position.
Aanvragen (to apply for) is a separable verb. Why is it written as one connected word here?
Because of the modal verb mag (may). When a modal verb is the conjugated verb in the sentence, the other verb goes to the very end of the sentence as a full, unseparated infinitive.
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