Breakdown of Naar aanleiding van de uitbraak was er gisteren een persconferentie.
zijn
to be
een
a/an
gisteren
yesterday
er
there (existential)
naar aanleiding van
following / in response to
de uitbraak
the outbreak
de persconferentie
the press conference
Questions & Answers about Naar aanleiding van de uitbraak was er gisteren een persconferentie.
How does naar aanleiding van differ from ten gevolge van in this context?
Naar aanleiding van means 'prompted by' or 'in response to'. It shows that the outbreak triggered a deliberate human action or discussion (the press conference). Ten gevolge van means 'as a direct result of' or 'due to', and is usually reserved for direct physical, medical, or logistical consequences, such as damage, delays, or casualties.
Could I just use door instead of naar aanleiding van?
Yes, door de uitbraak (because of the outbreak) is grammatically correct and much more common in everyday speech. However, naar aanleiding van is a formal phrase heavily used in journalism, business, and government. It specifically highlights that the press conference was an official reaction to the event, rather than just being blindly caused by it.
Why is the word order was er and not er was?
Because the long prepositional phrase Naar aanleiding van de uitbraak occupies the very first position in the sentence. Dutch requires the conjugated verb to be in the second position (the V2 rule). Therefore, the verb was must come immediately after the introductory phrase, which forces the subject er to move after the verb.
Why do we need the word er in this sentence?
Here, er acts as a dummy subject, much like 'there' in the English phrase 'there was'. In Dutch, when you use the verb zijn (to be) to introduce a new, indefinite noun into the sentence—in this case, een persconferentie—you must use er to introduce it.
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