Voordat wij de televisie aanzetten, bespreken we onze ervaringen met het onderzoek.

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Breakdown of Voordat wij de televisie aanzetten, bespreken we onze ervaringen met het onderzoek.

• met: with
• onze: our
• we: we
• voordat: before
• bespreken: to discuss
• het onderzoek: the research
• aanzetten: to turn on
• de televisie: the television
• de ervaring: the experience

Questions & Answers about Voordat wij de televisie aanzetten, bespreken we onze ervaringen met het onderzoek.

Why does the sentence start with voordat instead of voor?

In Dutch, voordat is a subordinating conjunction that introduces a whole clause indicating something happens before another action. By contrast, voor (without dat) does not create a subordinate clause but rather functions more like a preposition (e.g., voor de deur). Here, voordat signals that there is an entire action (turning on the TV) that will happen after the discussion.

Why do we see wij instead of we?

In Dutch, wij and we both mean we, but wij is the stressed form used when you want to emphasize the subject or contrast it with another subject. In normal speech or less formal contexts, we is more common. The sentence could still be correct if it said Voordat we de televisie aanzetten… It’s just a slightly different emphasis.

What is the role of aanzetten here?

Aanzetten is a separable verb in Dutch meaning to turn on (for devices such as a TV). In the sentence, it appears in its infinitive form because it’s part of the subordinate clause introduced by voordat. When the sentence is rearranged, the verb splits (e.g., Wij zetten de televisie aan).

Why is the word order different after voordat?

Dutch uses a different word order in subordinate clauses. After voordat, the finite verb (in this sentence, aanzetten) usually goes to the end of the clause. So you get voordat wij de televisie aanzetten, instead of voordat wij aanzetten de televisie (which would be incorrect).

What does onze ervaringen met het onderzoek refer to in a grammatical sense?

Grammatically, onze ervaringen is the direct object of the verb bespreken (to discuss), and met het onderzoek tells us the specific context of those experiences—namely, that they are related to the research. So onze ervaringen is what is being discussed, and met het onderzoek modifies what those experiences pertain to.