Breakdown of Nadat zij haar voedingsschema had veranderd, at zij minder calorieën.
zij
she
hebben
to have
eten
to eat
haar
her
veranderen
to change
minder
less / fewer
nadat
after
de calorie
the calorie
het voedingsschema
the meal plan
Questions & Answers about Nadat zij haar voedingsschema had veranderd, at zij minder calorieën.
Why are the verbs had veranderd at the end of the first clause?
Just like naargelang from your current lesson, nadat is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which always forces all of its verbs to the very end.
Could I swap the order of those end verbs to veranderd had?
Yes, you can! In a Dutch subordinate clause, when you have an auxiliary verb (had) and a past participle (veranderd) grouped at the end, you can use either order. Both had veranderd and veranderd had are perfectly correct.
Why does the second part say at zij instead of zij at?
This happens because of the Dutch V2 (verb second) rule. The entire first clause (Nadat zij haar voedingsschema had veranderd) acts as the first block of information in the sentence. To keep the main verb in the second position, the main clause must immediately start with its verb (at), which forces the subject (zij) behind it.
Why do we use nadat here instead of just na for 'after'?
You use nadat because it is a conjunction that introduces a full clause with its own subject and verb (zij ... had veranderd). You only use na as a preposition before a noun phrase, such as in na het dieet (after the diet).
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