Word
Volgens de krantenkop had de storm een complete puinhoop achtergelaten.
Meaning
According to the headline, the storm had left a complete mess.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Volgens de krantenkop had de storm een complete puinhoop achtergelaten.
een
a/an
hebben
to have
de storm
the storm
volgens
according to
Questions & Answers about Volgens de krantenkop had de storm een complete puinhoop achtergelaten.
Why is it complete with an -e here, instead of just compleet?
In this sentence, complete is an adjective modifying the noun puinhoop. Because puinhoop is a de-word (from de hoop), it takes the -e ending after the indefinite article een. If it were acting as an adverb of degree modifying another adjective (like een compleet verwoeste stad for a completely destroyed city), it would drop the -e.
Why is the verb had placed before the subject de storm?
The sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Volgens de krantenkop (According to the headline). Putting this at the front of the sentence triggers inversion, meaning the finite verb had must take the second position, right before the subject de storm.
What makes up the word puinhoop?
It is a compound of puin (rubble, debris) and hoop (pile, heap). So a puinhoop is literally a pile of rubble, which is widely used figuratively to mean a massive mess or disaster.
Why is achtergelaten all the way at the end of the sentence?