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Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel heb kunnen zitten.

Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel heb kunnen zitten.
It has been years since I have been able to sit so relaxed in an office chair.
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Questions & Answers about Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel heb kunnen zitten.

Why does the sentence start with Het is jaren geleden dat…? Is that just It is years ago that…?

Het is jaren geleden dat… is a very common Dutch pattern meaning It’s been years since….

Literally:

  • Het is = It is
  • jaren geleden = years ago
  • dat… = that…

So literally: It is years ago that I have been able to sit so relaxed in an office chair.

Like in English It’s been years since…, Dutch uses is (present) + a past-time expression (jaren geleden) to say how long it has been up to now. So although it talks about the past, the grammar is present, because you are talking about the current state: as of now, it has been years.

Why is it jaren and not jaar?

Both are possible words, but they’re used differently:

  • jaar = year (singular), also used as a “counting form”

    • drie jaar = three years
    • tien jaar geleden = ten years ago

  • jaren = years (true plural), often used in a more vague or general sense

    • jaren geleden = years ago (without saying how many)
    • in de jaren 90 = in the 90s

In this sentence, jaren geleden means for years / years ago in a non-specific way. If you wanted to be specific, you would say something like:

  • Het is tien jaar geleden dat ik… = It’s been ten years since I…
What exactly is geleden? Is it a separate word that means ago?

Yes. In modern Dutch geleden is used almost like a fixed adverb meaning ago.

  • twee dagen geleden = two days ago
  • een maand geleden = a month ago
  • lang geleden = a long time ago

Historically, geleden is related to the past participle of lijden (to suffer), but in everyday language you can just treat geleden as a separate word that attaches to time expressions to mean ago.

In jaren geleden, the whole chunk jaren geleden = years ago / years back.

Why is it dat ik… and not something with sinds (since)? Can I say Sinds jaren heb ik…?

Dutch has two main ways to express It’s been years since…:

  1. The het is … geleden dat… pattern (used in your sentence):

    • Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel heb kunnen zitten.
      = It’s been years since I was able to sit so relaxed in an office chair.

  2. A pattern with al jaren (for years) instead of sinds in this meaning:

    • Ik heb al jaren niet zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel kunnen zitten.
      = For years I haven’t been able to sit so relaxed in an office chair.

Sinds is used differently:

  • Sinds jaren is not idiomatic here.
  • Sinds jaren can appear in some more formal expressions, but for this everyday idea (for years now), Dutch prefers al jaren or al jaren lang.

So:

  • Het is jaren geleden dat…
  • Ik heb al jaren niet…

but not Sinds jaren heb ik niet… in normal colloquial Dutch.

Why are there three verbs at the end: heb kunnen zitten? How does the word order work?

You’re in a subordinate clause introduced by dat, so Dutch sends the verbs to the end, in a specific order.

The clause is: dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel heb kunnen zitten.

Verb types involved:

  • heb – auxiliary (helping verb) for the perfect tense
  • kunnen – modal verb (can / be able to)
  • zitten – main verb (to sit)

In Dutch subordinate clauses with more than one verb, the usual order at the end is:

auxiliary – modal – main verb

So:

  • heb (auxiliary)
  • kunnen (modal)
  • zitten (main verb)

That gives heb kunnen zitten.

In a main clause, the first verb usually stands in second position, and the rest still go to the end:

  • Ik heb nooit zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel kunnen zitten.
    (heb = 2nd position, kunnen zitten at the end)
What does heb kunnen zitten mean exactly? Why not just heb gezeten?

Heb kunnen zitten expresses having been able to sit (ability/opportunity).

  • zitten = to sit
  • kunnen zitten = to be able to sit
  • heb kunnen zitten = have been able to sit

So:

  • ik heb in die stoel gezeten
    = I have sat in that chair. (just the fact of sitting)

  • ik heb in die stoel kunnen zitten
    = I have been able to sit in that chair. (it was possible / comfortable / allowed)

In your sentence:

  • dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel heb kunnen zitten
    = that I have been able to sit so relaxed in an office chair.

The focus is on the possibility/ability to sit comfortably, not just on the bare fact of sitting.

Could you also say Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel zat? What’s the difference?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct:

  • Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel zat.

Difference in nuance:

  • …zat (simple past)
    Focuses on a past situation: the last time I sat so relaxed… was years ago. It just describes that event.

  • …heb kunnen zitten (perfect + kunnen)
    Emphasizes having the ability / opportunity to sit relaxed. It suggests that having a chair in which I can sit so relaxed has not been possible for years.

Both are understandable; the original feels a bit more like it hasn’t been possible for years to sit this comfortably.

What exactly does zo ontspannen mean? And why is zo before the adjective?
  • ontspannen (here) = relaxed (adjective)
  • zo = so / that / this (as a degree word)

zo ontspannen = so relaxed, this relaxed, that relaxed.

In Dutch, degree words like zo, heel, erg, heel erg come before the adjective:

  • zo moe = so tired
  • heel blij = very happy
  • erg druk = very busy

So:

  • zo ontspannen zitten = sit so relaxed

The word order zo ontspannen is the normal degree word + adjective pattern.

Why is it in een bureaustoel and not op een bureaustoel? I thought you sit on a chair.

Both in and op can be used with things you sit on, but the choice depends on the type of seat and how it “contains” you.

General tendency:

  • op een stoel = on a (simple) chair
  • in een fauteuil / in een leunstoel = in an armchair (you’re a bit “in” it)
  • in een bureaustoel = in an office chair (often soft, with sides, a bit surrounding you)

So:

  • Ik zit op een keukenstoel.
  • Ik zit in een fauteuil.
  • Ik zit in een bureaustoel.

Many speakers would also accept op een bureaustoel, but in een bureaustoel is very idiomatic because an office chair is seen more as a “seat you sit in” than a flat surface you sit on.

What does bureaustoel literally mean, and what article does it take?

Bureaustoel is a compound noun:

  • bureau = desk
  • stoel = chair

So bureaustoel = desk chair / office chair.

The article is de, because stoel is de stoel.

So:

  • de bureaustoel = the office chair
  • een bureaustoel = an office chair

Examples:

  • Deze bureaustoel zit heel lekker.
    = This office chair is very comfortable to sit in.
  • Ik zoek een nieuwe bureaustoel.
    = I’m looking for a new office chair.
Can I express the same idea without Het is … geleden dat…? For example with al jaren?

Yes, very naturally. A common alternative is:

  • Ik heb al jaren niet zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel kunnen zitten.
    = I haven’t been able to sit this relaxed in an office chair for years.

Comparison:

  • Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel heb kunnen zitten.
    Sounds a bit like English It’s been years since I was able to… (slightly more “statement-like”).

  • Ik heb al jaren niet zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel kunnen zitten.
    Feels a bit more direct and personal: For years I haven’t been able to…

Both are very idiomatic. The core grammar of heb kunnen zitten (perfect + kunnen + main verb) stays the same.

Could I say dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel kan zitten instead of heb kunnen zitten?

You could, but it changes the meaning and the time reference:

  • …kan zitten = can sit (present ability, now or generally)
  • …heb kunnen zitten = have been able to sit (ability in the past, up to now)

Your original sentence is specifically about the past period up to now:

  • Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel heb kunnen zitten.
    = It’s been years since I have been able to sit so relaxed in an office chair.

If you said:

  • Het is jaren geleden dat ik zo ontspannen in een bureaustoel kan zitten.

it would be odd, because het is jaren geleden dat… points to a past event, but kan zitten is present tense. They don’t match well.

So for this meaning (It’s been years since I could…), you really want a past/perfect form: heb kunnen zitten, or alternatively kon zitten.