Breakdown of Na het overleg bekijken wij samen de grafiek.
Questions & Answers about Na het overleg bekijken wij samen de grafiek.
Why does bekijken come before wij in this sentence?
Because Dutch main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule (V2).
The first element in the sentence is Na het overleg (After the meeting/consultation). Since that whole phrase takes the first position, the conjugated verb must come next:
- Na het overleg | bekijken | wij | samen de grafiek
If you start with the subject instead, you get the more basic order:
- Wij bekijken samen de grafiek na het overleg.
So bekijken wij is not unusual here; it happens because the sentence begins with a time phrase.
What exactly is Na het overleg doing at the start of the sentence?
It is a time expression meaning after the meeting/consultation.
Dutch often places time information at the beginning of a sentence to set the scene:
- Na het overleg bekijken wij samen de grafiek.
- Morgen gaan wij naar Amsterdam.
- In de zomer werken zij minder.
So here, Na het overleg tells you when the action happens.
Why is it het overleg and not de overleg?
Because overleg is a het-word in Dutch.
Dutch nouns usually take either:
- de
- het
You simply have to learn which article each noun takes. In this case:
- het overleg = the meeting / consultation / discussion
A useful note: many English speakers want a fixed rule for de versus het, but often it must just be memorized noun by noun.
What does overleg mean exactly?
Overleg usually means a meeting, consultation, or discussion, especially one where people talk something through together.
Depending on context, it can be:
- a formal meeting
- a team discussion
- a consultation session
So Na het overleg could mean:
- After the meeting
- After the discussion
- After the consultation
The best English translation depends on the situation.
Why use bekijken here instead of just kijken?
Because bekijken means something like:
- to look at
- to examine
- to view
It is a direct verb: you can say
- Wij bekijken de grafiek.
But kijken usually needs naar when you specify what is being looked at:
- Wij kijken naar de grafiek.
So both can work, but they are slightly different in feel:
- de grafiek bekijken = look at / examine the graph
- naar de grafiek kijken = look at the graph
Bekijken can sound a little more deliberate or analytical, which fits well with grafiek.
Could I also say Na het overleg kijken wij samen naar de grafiek?
Yes, absolutely.
That version is also correct:
- Na het overleg kijken wij samen naar de grafiek.
The difference is mainly the verb pattern:
- bekijken + direct object
- de grafiek bekijken
- kijken naar + object
- naar de grafiek kijken
Both are natural. Bekijken may sound a bit more like examining the graph, while kijken naar is more neutral.
Why does the sentence use wij and not we?
Both wij and we mean we.
- wij is the fuller, slightly more stressed form
- we is the unstressed, very common everyday form
So these are both possible:
- Na het overleg bekijken wij samen de grafiek.
- Na het overleg bekijken we samen de grafiek.
In normal spoken Dutch, we is often more common. Wij can sound a bit more formal, emphatic, or careful, though it is still perfectly normal.
What is samen doing here, and where does it go?
Samen means together.
It tells you that we are looking at the graph together.
Its position is quite natural here:
- Na het overleg bekijken wij samen de grafiek.
You may also see it in slightly different places depending on emphasis and style, for example:
- Wij bekijken samen de grafiek.
- Wij gaan samen de grafiek bekijken.
In your sentence, samen sits nicely in the middle of the clause and modifies the action.
Why is it de grafiek?
Because grafiek is a de-word.
So the correct form is:
- de grafiek = the graph
This is another case where the article must be learned with the noun.
Also note that grafiek in Dutch usually means a graph or chart, depending on context.
Is bekijken present tense here? Can it refer to the future?
Yes, it is grammatically present tense:
- wij bekijken = we look at / we are looking at
But in Dutch, just like in English, the present tense can also be used for a future event when the time is clear.
Because the sentence says Na het overleg (After the meeting), it can naturally mean:
- After the meeting, we will look at the graph together.
So the form is present tense, but the meaning can be future because the time phrase makes that clear.
Is this sentence a normal, natural Dutch sentence?
Yes, it is completely natural.
It has a very standard Dutch structure:
- time phrase first: Na het overleg
- conjugated verb second: bekijken
- subject next: wij
- rest of the sentence: samen de grafiek
A very common learner mistake would be to keep English word order and say something like:
- Na het overleg wij bekijken samen de grafiek.
That is not correct in standard Dutch, because the verb must come second in a main clause.
So your original sentence is a good model of normal Dutch word order.
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