Breakdown of Hij is uren aan het hakken geweest om genoeg brandhout te hebben.
zijn
to be
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
hebben
to have
het uur
the hour / o'clock
Questions & Answers about Hij is uren aan het hakken geweest om genoeg brandhout te hebben.
Why do we use is here when the English translation says "has been"?
Because the continuous aspect in Dutch is built on the verb zijn (to be) in the structure zijn aan het. When you put zijn into the present perfect tense, it takes itself as the auxiliary verb, not hebben. So instead of "has been" (heeft geweest — which is incorrect), Dutch literally says "is been" (is geweest).
Why does geweest come right at the end of the first clause, after aan het hakken?
In Dutch main clauses, the past participle (geweest) gets pushed to the end of the clause. The continuous block aan het hakken acts as a fixed unit and sits right before the final verb of that clause.
The English translation says "for hours", but the Dutch sentence just says uren. Shouldn't there be a word for "for"?
No, and this is a common trap for English speakers! When expressing the duration of an action, Dutch typically drops the preposition. To say "for hours", "for days", or "for years", you just use the plural noun on its own (uren, dagen, jaren) or you can add the suffix -lang (like urenlang). Saying voor uren would sound unnatural here.
What is the function of the om ... te structure in the second half of the sentence?