Breakdown of Hij heeft een ongelofelijke prestatie neergezet. Bovendien is hij stiekem wezen trainen.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
een
a/an
hebben
to have
trainen
to train
stiekem
secretly
bovendien
moreover
de prestatie
the achievement / the performance
ongelofelijk
unbelievable
wezen
to go (auxiliary for past outings)
neerzetten
to establish (e.g. a record)
Questions & Answers about Hij heeft een ongelofelijke prestatie neergezet. Bovendien is hij stiekem wezen trainen.
How would I rewrite the first sentence as an exclamatory dat-clause, like the ones we are focusing on in this lesson?
To express pure astonishment about his achievement using an independent dat-clause, you start with dat and push all verbs to the end of the sentence: Dat hij een ongelofelijke prestatie heeft neergezet! (That he delivered an unbelievable performance!). This structure perfectly captures surprise or disbelief.
Why is it wezen trainen instead of geweest trainen?
In Dutch, to say someone "went out and did" an activity, you use the perfect tense of zijn combined with the infinitive wezen and the action verb (trainen). The expected past participle geweest is replaced by the infinitive wezen in this structure. This is a very common B1/B2 grammar point for motion or activity verbs, literally translating as "has been to train."
I know neerzetten means "to put down", but here it means "delivered". Is this a fixed expression?
Yes, it is! While neerzetten is a separable verb that literally means "to put down", it is frequently used figuratively in sports, arts, and business contexts. Een prestatie neerzetten specifically means "to deliver a performance" or "to achieve a result".
Why does the second sentence use the word order is hij instead of hij is?
The word bovendien (moreover) is an adverb. When you place an adverb at the very beginning of a sentence, it takes up the first position. Because Dutch is a "verb-second" language, the verb (is) must come immediately after it, pushing the subject (hij) behind the verb. This creates the inversion.
Why does ongelofelijke get an -e added to it if it comes after een?
You only drop the -e after een if the following noun is a het-word. The word prestatie is a de-word (de prestatie). Therefore, the adjective keeps its standard -e ending, making it een ongelofelijke prestatie.
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