Breakdown of Het snelle herstel van de patiënt is te danken aan de deskundigheid van de arts.
zijn
to be
de arts
the doctor
snel
fast
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
Questions & Answers about Het snelle herstel van de patiënt is te danken aan de deskundigheid van de arts.
Why do we use te danken aan here instead of te wijten aan?
The phrase zijn te danken aan is used to attribute a positive cause or outcome, similar to 'is thanks to' or 'is owed to' in English. Because a quick recovery is a good thing, we use danken (to thank). If it were a negative outcome, like a failure or illness, you would use zijn te wijten aan (to be blamed on).
Can I conjugate danken here, or does it have to stay an infinitive?
It must stay an infinitive. In this specific construction, te danken aan acts as a fixed phrase that functions almost like an adjective following the verb zijn (here, is). You conjugate zijn to match the subject (Het snelle herstel is...), but te danken aan remains exactly as it is.
How is the noun deskundigheid formed?
It comes from the adjective deskundig, which means expert, knowledgeable, or skilled. By adding the suffix -heid (which acts just like the English '-ness' or '-ity'), it turns into the noun deskundigheid, meaning expertise or competence.
Why does snelle get an -e at the end if herstel is a het-word?