Breakdown of Na te zijn geslaagd, hoeven we niet meer te oefenen.
zijn
to be
niet
not
oefenen
to practice
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
meer
more
slagen
to pass
na
after (preposition)
hoeven te
to need to (mostly negated)
Questions & Answers about Na te zijn geslaagd, hoeven we niet meer te oefenen.
Why do we use zijn instead of hebben in the phrase Na te zijn geslaagd?
The verb slagen (to pass/succeed) uses zijn as its auxiliary verb in the perfect tense (for example, wij zijn geslaagd). When you build a perfect infinitive clause with na ... te (after having...), you must stick to the same auxiliary verb the main verb normally uses.
Could I change the word order to Na geslaagd te zijn?
Yes, both word orders are perfectly fine! In these perfect infinitive clauses, you can place the past participle (geslaagd) either right after na te zijn/hebben, or at the very end of the clause.
Why does the second half of the sentence begin with hoeven instead of we?
Why is hoeven used here instead of moeten for "need to"?
In Dutch, when you want to say you "do not have to" or "don't need to", you use hoeven plus a negative word like niet. You cannot use moeten niet for this, because that means "must not" (a strict rule). Remember that hoeven always teams up with te before the other verb (here: te oefenen).
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