Word
Wij belden de collega op voordat wij weggingen.
Meaning
We phoned the colleague before we left.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Wij belden de collega op voordat wij weggingen.
de collega
the colleague
weggaan
to leave / to go away (casual, from a place)
opbellen
to phone / to call up
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Questions & Answers about Wij belden de collega op voordat wij weggingen.
Why is op placed after de collega instead of attached to belden?
The verb here is opbellen (to call or phone). It is a separable verb. In a standard main clause, the core verb (belden) takes the second position, while the small prefix (op) gets kicked to the very end of that clause.
Why doesn't the separable verb weggaan split in the second half of the sentence?
The second half of the sentence starts with voordat (before). Words like this create a dependent clause, which forces the verb to the very end. When a separable verb is pushed to the end of a sentence like this, the prefix (weg) and the verb (gingen) stick together as one single word (weggingen).
Are belden and weggingen in the past tense?
Yes! belden is the plural past tense of bellen (to call), and gingen is the plural past tense of gaan (to go). Even if your current lesson focuses on the present tense, it is helpful to see that separable verbs split the exact same way in the simple past tense.
Why is it de collega and not het collega?