Breakdown of Zij maken de revisie af en de redacteur bedankt hen.
en
and
zij
they
bedanken
to thank
hen
them (object)
afmaken
to finish
de redacteur
the editor
de revisie
the revision
Questions & Answers about Zij maken de revisie af en de redacteur bedankt hen.
Why do we use hen in this sentence instead of hun?
In formal written Dutch, hen is used for direct objects and after prepositions, while hun is used for indirect objects without a preposition. Because the verb bedanken (to thank) takes a direct object, hen is the correct pronoun here.
Why does the separable prefix af appear in the middle of the sentence instead of at the very end?
This sentence consists of two independent clauses joined by the conjunction en (and). The verb afmaken (to finish) splits in the first clause, pushing the prefix af to the end of that specific clause, rather than the end of the entire sentence.
Why isn't the verb bedankt placed right after en?
Because en is a coordinating conjunction. Words like en, of, and maar connect two main clauses without affecting the word order of the second clause. Therefore, it follows the standard subject-verb-object order: de redacteur (subject), bedankt (verb), hen (object).
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