Word
Na het indienen van de motie voerde zij het woord.
Meaning
After submitting the motion, she took the floor.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Na het indienen van de motie voerde zij het woord.
zij
she
het woord
the word
het
it
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
Questions & Answers about Na het indienen van de motie voerde zij het woord.
What does het woord voeren mean here, and why use it instead of just saying zij sprak?
Het woord voeren is a formal function verb structure meaning to speak or to take the floor. While zij sprak simply means she spoke, het woord voeren emphasizes the formal act of addressing an assembly or acting as a spokesperson. This elevated phrasing fits perfectly with the official context of the sentence.
Is voeren a common verb to use in other contexts, or is it only used in this set phrase?
The verb voeren literally means to feed, to carry, or to conduct. Outside of het woord voeren, it forms several other important function verb structures that B2 learners should know, such as oorlog voeren (to wage war), een gesprek voeren (to conduct a conversation), and actie voeren (to campaign or protest). In all these cases, voeren acts as a light verb putting an abstract noun into action.
Why do we use het indienen van instead of just using the verb indienen?
By placing het before the infinitive indienen (to submit), the verb is turned into a noun. This is similar to an English gerund (the submitting). Because it acts as a noun here, you need the preposition van (of) to connect it to de motie. This nominalized structure is frequently used after prepositions like na, bij, or tijdens to create a formal, written tone.