De werkelijkheid voldeed niet aan onze verwachting, maar we bleven positief.

De werkelijkheid voldeed niet aan onze verwachting, maar we bleven positief.
Reality did not meet our expectation, but we stayed positive.

Breakdown of De werkelijkheid voldeed niet aan onze verwachting, maar we bleven positief.

niet
not
maar
but
wij
we
onze
our
blijven
to stay
positief
positive
de verwachting
the expectation
de werkelijkheid
the reality
voldoen aan
to meet
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Dutch grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Dutch now

Questions & Answers about De werkelijkheid voldeed niet aan onze verwachting, maar we bleven positief.

What is the phrasal verb voldoen aan and why is aan necessary here?

In Dutch, voldoen is not used alone when you mean “to meet” or “to satisfy” something; it always takes the preposition aan.

  • voldoen aan = “to meet, to satisfy (requirements, expectations, etc.)”
  • Without aan, the verb would be incomplete and ungrammatical.
Why is the sentence structured De werkelijkheid voldeed niet aan onze verwachting instead of De werkelijkheid niet voldeed aan onze verwachting?

Dutch main-clause word order is V2 (verb second). That means:

  1. Put one constituent (here the subject De werkelijkheid) in first position.
  2. The finite verb (voldeed) must come second.
  3. Everything else follows.
    Negation (niet) normally comes after the finite verb or after the object, not between subject and verb.
What does voldeed tell us, and why not voldoet or heeft voldaan?
  • voldeed is the simple past (imperfectum) of voldoen.
  • You use the imperfectum when narrating or describing what happened in the past.
  • voldoet would be present tense (“meets”), and heeft voldaan is perfect tense (“has met”), which changes the nuance to a completed past action rather than just “did not meet.”
Why is there a comma before maar, and do I always need it?
  • You commonly put a comma before maar when it links two independent clauses:
    De werkelijkheid voldeed niet…, maar we bleven positief.
  • It clarifies the boundary between the clauses but is not strictly mandatory in very short sentences.
  • In formal writing, however, the comma is recommended.
How does maar affect word order in the second clause maar we bleven positief?
  • Maar is a coordinating conjunction, so it does not count as the first “slot” of the next clause.
  • After maar, you start a fresh main clause with the subject (we) in first position and the finite verb (bleven) in second position.
Why is positief not inflected to positieve after bleven?
  • Blijven is a copular (linking) verb here, like zijn or lijken.
  • Predicative adjectives after these verbs do not get the extra -e ending.
    We bleven positief (not positieve).
Could you say maar we zijn positief gebleven instead of maar we bleven positief, and what’s the nuance?

Yes.

  • we bleven positief (imperfectum) emphasizes the ongoing state in the past.
  • we zijn positief gebleven (perfectum) focuses more on the result or on the fact that up to now you have remained positive.
    Both are correct but convey slightly different time perspectives.
What’s the difference between werkelijkheid and realiteit?
  • Both mean “reality.”
  • werkelijkheid is a native Dutch word, very common and a bit more neutral/formal.
  • realiteit is borrowed from Latin via French. It’s also correct but often used in philosophical or academic contexts.