Breakdown of Na de bus geen voorrang te hebben gegeven, is hij gezakt.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
hebben
to have
geen
no / not any
de bus
the bus
geven
to give
zakken
to fail
te
to (infinitive marker)
na
after (preposition)
de voorrang
the right of way
Questions & Answers about Na de bus geen voorrang te hebben gegeven, is hij gezakt.
How do you build the 'After not giving...' part in this sentence?
This uses the na ... te hebben + past participle structure being taught in this lesson, which means 'after having [done something]'. The core action is voorrang geven (to give right of way). To build the clause, we put Na at the start, the objects in the middle, and te hebben gegeven at the end.
English says 'right of way to the bus'. Why is there no aan (to) in the Dutch sentence?
In Dutch, when the indirect object (de bus) is placed directly before the direct object (geen voorrang), the preposition aan can be dropped. You could say geen voorrang aan de bus te hebben gegeven, but leaving aan out like this is a very natural and common shortcut.
Why does the sentence use geen instead of niet for 'not giving'?
We are actually negating the noun voorrang (right of way), rather than the verb itself. In Dutch, when you negate a noun that doesn't have a definite article like de or het, you use geen (meaning 'no'). Literally, the sentence says 'after having given no right of way'.
Why does the second part say is hij gezakt instead of hij is gezakt?
The entire first clause (Na de bus geen voorrang te hebben gegeven) acts as the first block of information in the sentence. Because that block is in position one, it triggers inversion in the main clause. The main verb (is) must come right after it, placing it before the subject (hij).
Why is the verb for failing (zakken) used with is instead of heeft?
The verb zakken (to fail an exam, or literally 'to sink') expresses a change of state. Verbs that show a change of state or direction typically take zijn instead of hebben in the perfect tense.
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