Breakdown of Na het registreren van de patiënt roept de specialist hem op.
het
it
hem
him
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
na
after (preposition)
Questions & Answers about Na het registreren van de patiënt roept de specialist hem op.
How does the nominal style work in Na het registreren van de patiënt?
Instead of using a full subordinate clause like Nadat iemand de patiënt heeft geregistreerd (After someone has registered the patient), this sentence turns the action into a noun phrase. It does this by using the preposition Na, the article het, the infinitive verb registreren, and the word van to connect the object (de patiënt). This makes the sentence sound more formal and concise.
Why doesn't the phrase Na het registreren van de patiënt have a specific subject doing the action?
That is one of the main advantages of this nominal style! By using het registreren van, you avoid needing to say exactly who is doing the registering. It could be the specialist, or it could be a receptionist. If you used a normal conjunction like nadat, the grammar would force you to include a subject.
Why is the word order roept de specialist instead of de specialist roept?
Because the sentence starts with the long prepositional phrase Na het registreren van de patiënt, the main clause must undergo inversion. In a Dutch main clause, the conjugated verb must sit in the second grammatical position. Therefore, the verb roept comes immediately after the introductory phrase, pushing the subject de specialist behind it.
Where does the word op at the end of the sentence come from?