Breakdown of De burgemeester zei dat ze het centrum zouden herbouwen.
zij
they
zeggen
to say
zullen
shall / will
het centrum
the center
dat
that (conjunction)
de burgemeester
the mayor
herbouwen
to rebuild
Questions & Answers about De burgemeester zei dat ze het centrum zouden herbouwen.
How does the prefix her- change the meaning of bouwen in this sentence?
The prefix her- is used to indicate repetition, much like the English prefix "re-". By attaching it to the base verb bouwen (to build), it creates herbouwen, meaning "to rebuild".
Is herbouwen a separable verb?
No, verbs starting with the prefix her- are always inseparable. If you used it in a simple present tense main clause, it would stay together: Zij herbouwen het centrum (They rebuild the center). Because it is inseparable, it also does not get a ge- prefix in the past participle (which is simply herbouwd).
Why is zouden used here instead of zullen?
This is an example of reported speech (indirect speech). Because the main verb of the sentence, zei (said), is in the past tense, the auxiliary verb for the future tense (zullen) must also shift to the past tense to maintain agreement. It becomes zouden to express the "future in the past" (would rebuild).
Why are both zouden and herbouwen placed at the very end of the sentence?
The word dat (that) introduces a subordinate clause. As a B2 refresher: in Dutch subordinate clauses, all verbs are pushed to the end of the phrase. The auxiliary zouden and the main verb herbouwen cluster together. Note that in these verb clusters, you could also legally swap their order and say herbouwen zouden.
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