Breakdown of Zij hebben de richtlijn gewijzigd, hetgeen noodzakelijk was.
zijn
to be
zij
they
hebben
to have
noodzakelijk
necessary
de richtlijn
the guideline
wijzigen
to amend / to modify
hetgeen
which / that which (referring to a whole clause)
Questions & Answers about Zij hebben de richtlijn gewijzigd, hetgeen noodzakelijk was.
Why is hetgeen used here instead of wat?
Both hetgeen and wat can refer back to an entire preceding clause (here, the fact that they modified the guideline). However, hetgeen is a highly formal relative pronoun used mainly in official or written Dutch. In everyday speech, you would simply use wat.
Could hetgeen refer specifically to the noun de richtlijn?
No, hetgeen always refers back to an entire idea, phrase, or clause (the whole action of modifying the guideline). If the relative pronoun referred only to the noun de richtlijn (a de-word), you would have to use die instead.
Does hetgeen change the word order of the clause it introduces?
Yes, like other relative pronouns, hetgeen introduces a subclause. This forces all verbs to the end of the clause, which is why we see noodzakelijk was rather than was noodzakelijk.
How do we know the past participle gewijzigd ends in a d and not a t?
The infinitive is wijzigen (to modify). If you remove the -en, the stem ends in g. Because g is not a voiceless consonant (it is not in the mnemonic 't kofschip), the past participle takes a -d.
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