Breakdown of Door het missen van de straat hebben wij ons verreden.
wij
we
hebben
to have
missen
to miss / to lack
het
it
de straat
the street
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
door
because of / due to
zich verrijden
to take a wrong turn (driving)
Questions & Answers about Door het missen van de straat hebben wij ons verreden.
What is the infinitive of verreden and how does the ver- prefix change its meaning here?
The infinitive is zich verrijden. The base verb is rijden (to drive). By adding the prefix ver- and making it reflexive (using ons because the subject is wij), it implies doing the action incorrectly. Instead of just driving, it means driving the wrong way or taking a wrong turn.
Why does the verb hebben come before the subject wij?
This is an example of inversion. The sentence starts with the prepositional phrase Door het missen van de straat (Due to missing the street). Because this phrase occupies the first position in the sentence, the conjugated verb (hebben) must take the second position, which pushes the subject (wij) into the third position.
Why is the phrase written as het missen rather than just using the verb missen?
Here, the verb missen (to miss) is acting as a noun. In Dutch, when you turn a whole infinitive verb into a noun to talk about the concept of the action (similar to the English -ing form), it always takes the neuter definite article het.
If we had taken a wrong turn while walking instead of driving, how would the verb change?
You would swap out the base verb rijden for lopen (to walk) and apply the exact same reflexive error pattern. The end of the sentence would become hebben wij ons verlopen.
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