Breakdown of Het herstel van de markt is te danken aan de investeringen, toch?
zijn
to be
de markt
the market
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
toch
still, anyway (particle) / right? (question tag)
Questions & Answers about Het herstel van de markt is te danken aan de investeringen, toch?
Why do we use is te danken aan here instead of is te wijten aan?
The phrase zijn te danken aan is used when attributing a positive outcome to a cause. Because a market recovery (het herstel) is positive, we use this phrase, which is similar to 'thanks to' or 'owed to'. If the market had crashed (a negative outcome), you would use is te wijten aan instead, which means 'is to be blamed on'.
What is the grammatical role of te before danken in this sentence?
It creates a passive-like state. In Dutch, the verb zijn followed by te and an infinitive (like danken) means something 'can be' or 'is to be' done. So, is te danken aan literally translates to 'is to be thanked to'.
Is the preposition aan strictly necessary here?
Yes. The fixed expression is danken aan (to owe to / to thank for). Just like in English where you owe a success 'to' someone, in Dutch you must use aan to connect the positive result to its cause (de investeringen).
What exactly does toch do at the end of this sentence?
When placed at the very end of a statement and followed by a question mark, toch turns the sentence into a request for confirmation. It works exactly like the English tag question 'right?' or 'isn't it?'. The speaker already believes the statement is true and expects the listener to agree.