Breakdown of Soms denk ik terug aan de dierbare levensfase dat wij samen studeerden.
ik
I
wij
we
samen
together
soms
sometimes
studeren
to study
dat
that/which (relative pronoun)
aan
about (with respect to)
terugdenken
to think back
de levensfase
the phase of life
dierbaar
precious
Questions & Answers about Soms denk ik terug aan de dierbare levensfase dat wij samen studeerden.
Since levensfase is a de word, shouldn't the relative pronoun be die instead of dat?
Normally, yes. However, here dat is not acting as a standard relative pronoun meaning 'which'. Instead, it is a temporal relative replacing waarin ('in which'). In Dutch, you can use dat to refer back to a moment or period in time, similar to how we use 'that' or 'when' in English.
Could I use toen instead of dat here, since it refers to the past?
No, you cannot use toen here. While toen means 'when', it is a conjunction used to introduce a completely new time clause (for example: Toen wij samen studeerden, waren we gelukkig). Here, you need a relative word that directly refers back to the noun levensfase, so you must use either waarin or the temporal dat.
Why do we use the preposition aan in this sentence?
It is required by the verb. The infinitive form is terugdenken aan (to think back to / to reminisce about). When a preposition is permanently tied to a verb like this, it is called a fixed preposition and the combination simply has to be memorized.
Does the adjective dierbare mean financially expensive?
No, dierbaar means 'precious', 'beloved', or 'dear' in an emotional or sentimental sense. If you wanted to say that a phase of life was financially expensive, you would use the word duur (which would become dure in this sentence).
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