Breakdown of De oogst mislukt door het feit dat we te laat zaaien.
laat
late
te
too
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
dat
that (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about De oogst mislukt door het feit dat we te laat zaaien.
How does door het feit dat affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
Because the phrase ends with the conjunction dat, it introduces a subordinate clause. This pushes the verb in that clause (zaaien) all the way to the end: ...dat we te laat zaaien.
Can I just use omdat instead of door het feit dat?
Yes, omdat we te laat zaaien means the exact same thing. Using a prepositional phrase like door het feit dat (due to the fact that) just sounds a bit more formal or emphasizes the cause-and-effect relationship.
Is mislukt a past participle here? It looks like it already happened.
No, it is the present tense (fails). The verb mislukken gets a standard -t for the third person singular (de oogst mislukt). However, because mis- is an inseparable prefix, the actual past participle is also mislukt (without a ge-). You have to rely on context or auxiliary verbs to tell them apart.
Could I use other prepositions like vanwege instead of door here?
Yes, vanwege het feit dat is also perfectly correct. Door is slightly more focused on a direct physical cause and effect (planting late directly causes the failure), while vanwege is a broader reason, but in practice they are completely interchangeable here.