Breakdown of Ze is voor de winter voedsel aan het inslaan geweest.
zijn
to be
voor
for (on behalf of)
de winter
the winter
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
het voedsel
the food
inslaan
to stock up
Questions & Answers about Ze is voor de winter voedsel aan het inslaan geweest.
How does the perfect continuous construction work in this sentence?
To say someone "has been doing" something, Dutch takes the standard aan het continuous structure and puts it into the present perfect. The formula is a conjugated form of zijn + aan het + [infinitive] + geweest. Here, is ... aan het inslaan geweest translates to "has been stocking up".
Why does this sentence use is instead of heeft as the auxiliary verb?
The underlying present tense sentence is Ze is aan het inslaan (She is stocking up). Because the grammatical main verb in that sentence is zijn (to be), and zijn always takes itself as the auxiliary in perfect tenses, the present perfect version must start with Ze is and end with geweest.
Inslaan is a separable verb. Why do the prefix and verb stay together here?
When you use the aan het construction, the action verb is always kept in its full, unseparated infinitive form. The aan het block simply sits right in front of the complete infinitive (inslaan).
Could I put the direct object voedsel at the end of the sentence, like in English?
No, in Dutch, the direct object (voedsel) must come before the continuous block. The phrase aan het inslaan geweest acts as the verbal cluster and belongs at the very end of the clause. You cannot say aan het inslaan geweest voedsel.
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