Breakdown of We hebben het concept niet nabesproken, want we hadden geen tijd.
niet
not
hebben
to have
de tijd
the time
geen
no / not any
want
because
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
het concept
the draft
nabespreken
to discuss afterwards / to review
Questions & Answers about We hebben het concept niet nabesproken, want we hadden geen tijd.
Why is the past participle nabesproken and not nagebesproken?
This verb is nabespreken (to discuss afterwards), which is made of the separable prefix na- and the verb bespreken. Usually, separable verbs get a -ge- in the middle for the past participle. However, because bespreken already starts with the inseparable, unstressed prefix be-, we drop the -ge-. So it becomes nabesproken instead of nagebesproken.
Does het concept mean "concept" or "draft" here?
In this context, het concept translates to "the draft" (like a rough version of a document or plan). While it can mean "concept" or "idea" in Dutch, it is very commonly used in business and school settings to mean a draft text.
Why doesn't want push the verb to the end of the sentence?
The word want (because) connects two main clauses, meaning the word order in the second part stays exactly the same as a normal sentence (we hadden geen tijd). If we had used omdat (which also means "because"), it would push the verb to the end: ...omdat we geen tijd hadden.
Why is niet placed right before nabesproken?
In Dutch, niet tends to sit as close to the end of the clause as possible, but it almost always comes before the verbs at the end of the sentence. In this sentence, it is placed immediately before the past participle nabesproken.
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