Door de retourzending werd de levertijd langer.

to get (followed by a comparative adjectives)

Breakdown of Door de retourzending werd de levertijd langer.

• langer: longer
• door: because of
• de retourzending: the return shipment

Questions & Answers about Door de retourzending werd de levertijd langer.

What does door mean here? Is it through, by, or because of?

Here door means because of or due to.

In Dutch, door can mean different things depending on context:

• through: door het raam = through the window
• by (in a passive sentence): door Jan = by Jan
• because of / due to: door de regen = because of the rain

In Door de retourzending werd de levertijd langer, it expresses a cause: because of the return shipment, the delivery time became longer.

So here it is not literal movement, and it is not the agent of a passive action.

Why does the sentence start with Door de retourzending?

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in the second position.

If you put Door de retourzending first for emphasis, the verb must come next:

• Door de retourzending werd de levertijd langer.

If you start with the subject instead, you get:

• De levertijd werd door de retourzending langer.

Both are grammatical. Starting with Door de retourzending puts more focus on the cause.

Why is it werd de levertijd and not de levertijd werd?