Breakdown of Uitgaande van de feiten, is dat verhaal aannemelijk, hoewel we de mythe verwerpen.
zijn
to be
wij
we
dat
that (het-words)
het verhaal
the story
het feit
the fact
hoewel
although
de mythe
the myth
uitgaande van
assuming / based on (starting from a premise)
aannemelijk
plausible
verwerpen
to reject (an idea, proposal, or theory)
Questions & Answers about Uitgaande van de feiten, is dat verhaal aannemelijk, hoewel we de mythe verwerpen.
How do I choose between uitgaande van and afgaande op in sentences like this?
Both are participles used to state a premise, but they have different nuances. Uitgaande van means 'proceeding from' or 'assuming' and is used for logical premises, theories, or hard feiten (facts). Afgaande op means 'going by' or 'judging by' and is usually based on appearances, feelings, or incomplete information. Since this sentence is grounded in facts, uitgaande van is the natural choice.
Why does the main clause start with the verb is instead of the subject dat verhaal?
The entire participle phrase Uitgaande van de feiten acts as the first building block (position 1) of the sentence. Because Dutch follows the V2 (verb-second) rule, the finite verb is must come immediately after it. This causes the subject dat verhaal to invert and move after the verb.
Could I use waarschijnlijk instead of aannemelijk here?
You could, but it changes the nuance. Waarschijnlijk simply means 'probable' or 'likely' (referring to a chance). Aannemelijk comes from the verb aannemen (to accept) and means 'plausible', 'credible', or 'acceptable'. Since the sentence focuses on whether we can intellectually accept a story while rejecting a myth, aannemelijk is a much better fit.
Why is the verb verwerpen pushed to the very end of the sentence?
The word hoewel (although) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which always forces its verbs to the end. This sentence is a great reminder of how Dutch word order shifts mid-sentence: the first half has V2 inversion, while the second half uses dependent word for order for dependent clauses.
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