Breakdown of Wij hebben gebrek aan tijd voor de eindinspectie.
de eindinspectie
the final inspection
gebrek hebben aan
to lack
Questions & Answers about Wij hebben gebrek aan tijd voor de eindinspectie.
Why do we use aan instead of van after gebrek, since the English translation is 'lack of'?
In Dutch, the noun gebrek (lack) is tied to the fixed preposition aan. You will see this same preposition used in similar expressions dealing with having too little of something, such as een tekort aan (a shortage of) and behoefte aan (a need for).
Why is there no article like een before gebrek here?
Could I use tekort aan instead of gebrek aan in this sentence?
Yes, they are very close synonyms and both work well here. Tekort aan often implies a measurable shortage (like a shortage of staff or money), whereas gebrek aan can refer to a more absolute lack or an abstract quality (like a lack of empathy). When talking about time, both are perfectly fine.
How do we know that the compound word eindinspectie takes the article de?
In Dutch, the gender—and therefore the definite article—of a compound noun is always determined by its final component. Since the standalone noun is de inspectie, the entire compound word becomes de eindinspectie.
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