Hij hing het portret daarna voorzichtig aan de muur.
He then hung the portrait carefully on the wall.
Breakdown of Hij hing het portret daarna voorzichtig aan de muur.
hij
he
aan
on
daarna
then
de muur
the wall
voorzichtig
carefully
hangen
to hang
het portret
the portrait
Questions & Answers about Hij hing het portret daarna voorzichtig aan de muur.
What tense and form is hing in?
hing is the simple past (preterite) third person singular of hangen (to hang).
How does hangen conjugate in the past tense and what is its past participle?
It’s irregular: singular past hing, plural past hingen, past participle gehangen.
Why is the perfect tense not used here (for example, Hij heeft het portret aan de muur gehangen)?
In Dutch narratives the simple past is very common. You could use the perfect (Hij heeft het portret aan de muur gehangen), but the preterite (hij hing) is equally correct and often preferred in written contexts.
Why are the adverbs daarna and voorzichtig placed after the object and in that specific order?
Dutch follows a Time–Manner–Place sequence for adverbials. Here you have daarna (time) → voorzichtig (manner) → aan de muur (place). The direct object (het portret) comes before these.
Why is it aan de muur rather than op de muur?
For hanging something on a vertical surface Dutch uses aan rather than op to express attachment to that surface.
Why is the article het used for portret but de for muur?
portret is a neuter noun (het-word), so it takes het; muur is a common-gender noun (de-word), so it takes de.
Why is voorzichtig unchanged when used as an adverb?
Dutch adverbs typically share the same form as adjectives. There is no separate -ly ending, so voorzichtig remains identical in both uses.
How would you express this sentence in the passive voice?
Start with the object: Het portret werd daarna voorzichtig aan de muur gehangen. You can optionally add the agent (door hem) if you want to specify who did the hanging.
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