Breakdown of Naar aanleiding van de persconferentie begreep niemand waarom het ministerie zweeg.
begrijpen
to understand
waarom
why
niemand
no one
zwijgen
to remain silent
naar aanleiding van
following / in response to
de persconferentie
the press conference
het ministerie
the ministry
Questions & Answers about Naar aanleiding van de persconferentie begreep niemand waarom het ministerie zweeg.
How does naar aanleiding van differ from ten gevolge van in this sentence?
Naar aanleiding van means prompted by or following. It shows that the press conference was the occasion that made people wonder. If you used ten gevolge van (as a direct consequence of), it would strangely imply the press conference literally caused people to lose their ability to understand.
Why is the verb begreep placed before the subject niemand?
The sentence starts with the long prepositional phrase Naar aanleiding van de persconferentie. In Dutch, when a main clause starts with anything other than the subject, the conjugated verb must take the second position. This pushes the subject niemand to the third position.
Why is the verb zweeg at the very end of the sentence?
The word waarom (why) introduces a subordinate clause (waarom het ministerie zweeg). In Dutch subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the end. For a quick vocabulary refresher, zweeg is the simple past tense of the strong verb zwijgen (to remain silent).
Could I just use na instead of naar aanleiding van here?
You could use na (after) in everyday speech. However, naar aanleiding van adds an extra layer of meaning: it does not just mean chronologically after, but rather in response to or prompted by the press conference. It also perfectly fits the formal tone of talking about a government ministry.
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