Breakdown of Was hij bij het stoplicht maar doorgereden!
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
het
it
bij
at / near / by
maar
just, go ahead (softening particle)
het stoplicht
the traffic light
doorrijden
to drive on / to continue driving
Questions & Answers about Was hij bij het stoplicht maar doorgereden!
Why does this sentence start with the verb Was if it is not a question?
This is a verb-first exclamation used to express a strong wish or regret. By starting with the past tense verb Was and adding the particle maar, it creates the meaning "If only he had...". You do not need a word like als (if) when you use this inverted structure.
What does maar do in this sentence, and could I leave it out?
The word maar is essential here to show that this is a wish or regret, translating closely to the "only" in "if only". Without it, the sentence would just sound like a confusing yes/no question. You could also use toch instead of maar to express a similar feeling of regret.
Why is the auxiliary verb Was used here instead of Had?
The main verb is doorrijden (to drive on). Because this verb indicates motion from one place to another, it takes zijn (to be) as its auxiliary verb in the perfect tenses rather than hebben (to have). Therefore, we must use Was instead of Had.
Why is the past participle doorgereden written as one solid word?
The infinitive is doorrijden, which is a separable verb composed of door and rijden. When forming the past participle of a separable verb, the ge- prefix is sandwiched between the separable part and the verb root, and the entire thing is written together as a single word: doorgereden.
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