Na het opstijgen drinken we koffie.

to drink

Breakdown of Na het opstijgen drinken we koffie.

• wij: we
• na: after
• de koffie: the coffee

Questions & Answers about Na het opstijgen drinken we koffie.

In Na het opstijgen, why is het used before opstijgen, and what’s the role of opstijgen here?

Opstijgen is an infinitive functioning as a noun (a nominalized infinitive). In Dutch, such nominalized verbs take the neuter article het. So het opstijgen literally means the take‑off or the ascending.

Could I use de opstijging or een opstijging instead?

Yes. De opstijging is the more “standard” noun form and is grammatically correct, but it sounds more formal and less common in everyday speech. If you say een opstijging, you emphasize a particular take‑off rather than the one, which can feel odd unless you’re contrasting multiple take‑offs.

Why does the verb drinken come before the subject we?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule. Since the time phrase Na het opstijgen occupies the first position, the finite verb drinken must be in the second slot, pushing the subject we to the third position.

Does drinken we koffie look like a question because of the word order?

It might resemble a question in English, but in Dutch this is still a statement. In questions you’d say Drinken we koffie? with a question mark. Here, the inversion is triggered by the fronted time phrase, not by asking something.