Word
Nadat hij door de bergen had genavigeerd, betaalde hij de tol.
Meaning
After he had navigated through the mountains, he paid the toll.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Nadat hij door de bergen had genavigeerd, betaalde hij de tol.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
hebben
to have
betalen
to pay
de berg
the mountain
Questions & Answers about Nadat hij door de bergen had genavigeerd, betaalde hij de tol.
Why do we use the past perfect (had genavigeerd) in the first part and the simple past (betaalde) in the second?
The conjunction nadat (after) requires the action in its clause to be fully completed before the action in the main clause happens. Because the main action of paying the toll took place in the past (betaalde), the earlier action of navigating must be pushed one step further back into the past perfect (had genavigeerd).
Could I put had at the very end of the clause, saying ...genavigeerd had instead?
Yes, both word orders are completely correct! In a Dutch subordinate clause, you can place the auxiliary verb (had) either immediately before or immediately after the past participle (genavigeerd). Placing the auxiliary first is slightly more common in everyday speech, but you will see and hear both.
Why is the second clause inverted to betaalde hij rather than the normal hij betaalde?
This is due to the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire subordinate clause (Nadat hij door de bergen had genavigeerd) occupies the first position in the overall sentence. The main verb (betaalde) must take the second position, which forces the subject (hij) to move to the spot immediately after the verb.
Why does the past participle genavigeerd end in a -d rather than a -t?