Learn Dutch: Afgaande op de koude wind, hadden we een paranormaal monster kunnen verwachten. - Judging by the cold wind, we could have expected a paranormal monster.

Afgaande op translates to "judging by" or "going by" sensory evidence or observations (like feeling the cold wind here). Uitgaande van means "assuming" or "starting from the premise that". If you used uitgaande van de koude wind, it would mean "assuming the wind is cold," rather than drawing a conclusion from a current observation.

Why does the sentence end with two infinitives (kunnen verwachten) instead of using the past participle verwacht?

This is due to the double infinitive rule. In perfect tenses, when a modal verb like kunnen acts as an auxiliary to another verb (verwachten), you do not use its past participle form (gekund). Instead, both verbs take their infinitive forms at the end of the clause.

Why does the main clause start with hadden we instead of we hadden?

The participial phrase Afgaande op de koude wind acts as the first block of information in the sentence. Because Dutch main clauses strictly place the finite verb in the second position (the V2 rule), the verb hadden must come immediately after the comma, causing the subject we to move behind it.

Why does koude get an -e ending while paranormaal does not?