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Welcome to the Dutch course! Dutch is a Germanic language, with grammar and vocabulary similar to other European languages. You might recognize some words from English as well! Even so, Dutch is a language with grammatical genders. These genders have influence on endings on words, for example.
In Dutch, there are three (grammatical) genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Each gender has their own definite article (‘the’): both singular masculine and feminine nouns use de and singular neuter nouns use het. For plural nouns, de is always used. The definite articles de and het don't have very clear rules for when you're supposed to use which; this will mostly be learning by heart and developing a feeling for it. However, there are some guidelines to help you along:
De words:
Het words:
Dutch speakers actually never tend to think about the gender of words. Rather than knowing whether a word is originally feminine or masculine, the only distinction that has to be remembered is the difference between the de words and het words. This is because it has grammatical consequences (in terms of possessives, question words, demonstratives, adjectives, and even relative pronouns). This is why when you learn a new noun, it is very important to memorize whether it is a de or het word.
The Dutch pronouns are as follows:
| English | Dutch |
|---|---|
| I | Ik |
| You (singular) | Jij (Je*) |
| He/She/It | Hij/Zij (Ze*)/Het |
| You (formal) | U |
| We | Wij (We*) |
| You (plural) | Jullie |
| They | Zij (Ze*) |
In Dutch, verbs can be recognised by the ending -en. For example, eten (‘to eat’) and drinken (‘to drink’). Verb conjugation in Dutch can get rather difficult, since there are lots of exceptions (welcome to Dutch, where exceptions are the rule!). The most basic rule is: find the stem and add the right ending to it. To find the stem of the word, you take the infinitive of the word – the basic form that you can find in the dictionary – and take off the ending, i.e. -en. So in the example of 'drinken', (to drink), the stem would be drink-. For the simple present, the conjugation is as follows:
| Pronoun | Conjugation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ik | [stem] | Ik drink (I drink) |
| Jij | [stem]+t | Jij drinkt (You drink) |
| Hij/Zij/Het | [stem]+t | Hij drinkt (He drinks) |
| U | [stem]+t | U drinkt (You drink) |
| Wij | Infinitive | Wij drinken (We drink) |
| Jullie | Infinitive | Jullie drinken (You drink) |
| Zij | Infinitive | Zij drinken (They drink) |
The Dutch alphabet has 26 letters – just like in English. In fact, you don’t have to learn any new letters! Hurrah!
However, there are a lot of differences and peculiarities in
pronunciation. Some letters are pronounced differently, and there can be
combinations of letters that may throw you for a loop. Don’t worry, we
are not discussing the letters just now.
In Basics 1 the regular verb conjugations have been explained. Unfortunately, Dutch also has irregular verbs. Fortunately, there are only 6 verbs that are completely irregular. There are more which aren't entirely regular, but you'll meet those in the Past tense.
These are the irregular verbs:
The most common of these are Hebben and Zijn, so here are their conjugations in the present tense:
| Hebben | Zijn |
|---|---|
| Ik heb | Ik ben |
| Jij hebt | Jij bent |
| U hebt/U heeft | U bent |
| Hij/Zij/Het heeft | Hij/Zij/Het is |
| Wij hebben | Wij zijn |
| Jullie hebben | Jullie zijn |
| Zij hebben | Zij zijn |
The way Dutch vowels sound depends on whether they are in open or closed syllables. A syllable is closed if it is in a consonant sandwich (e.g. bed, ‘bed’) and it is open if it is not (e.g. ga, ‘go’).
| Dutch | IPA, Notes |
|---|---|
| A | [ɑ] (short), like in father. [a:] (long), like in car (Australian/New Zealand English) |
| B | [b], like in bait. At the end of a word: [p] |
| C | [s] or [k] depending on the vowel after the c |
| D | [d], like in duck. At the end of a word: [t] |
| E | [ɛ] (short), like in bed. [e:] (long), like in made. [ə], an ‘uh’ sound, like again; mostly at the end of verbs. |
| F | [f], like in feather |
| G | [ɣ] / [x], the infamous Dutch sound. It sounds a bit like loch (Scottish English). [g] (*goal, ‘goal’) or [ʒ] (bagage, ‘luggage’) in loan words |
| H | [ɦ], like in behind |
| I | [ɪ] (short), like in sit. [i] (long), like in deep |
| J | [j], like in yard |
| K | [k], like in kiss |
| L | [l], like in land |
| M | [m], like in man |
| N | [n], like in neck |
| O | [ɔ] (short), like in soft. [o:] (long), roughly like in bone** |
| P | [p], like in pen |
| Q | [k], only in foreign words and loanwords |
| R | [ʀ], an uvular trill (rolling r in back of the throat). However, there are more ways to pronounce the r in Dutch, depending on the place in a word: [ɹ] (alveolar approximant, "tap r"), [r] (alveolar trill, “rolling r”), and [ʁ] (uvular approximant, German/French r). |
| S | [s], like in sock |
| T | [t], like in tea |
| U | [ʏ] (short), roughly like future. [y] (long), roughly like new |
| V | [v], like in very |
| W | [ʋ], between wine and vine |
| X | [ks], only in foreign words and loanwords |
| Y | [j], only in foreign words and loanwords |
| Z | [z], like in zip |
As in English, Dutch has many different ways of greeting others. The most common one, which you can use all day, is Hallo.
An easy way of greeting people throughout the day, is to say the time of day and add goede- "good" in front of it - just like in English. If the time of day starts with a vowel, you squish an -n- in between (an exception being "goedendag"). As follows:
| Time of day | Greeting |
|---|---|
| Morgen (morning) | Goedemorgen |
| Middag (midday) | Goedemiddag |
| Avond (evening) | Goedenavond |
| Nacht (night) | Goedenacht |
| Dag (day) | Goedendag |
Besides the letters of the alphabet, Dutch has a lot of combinations of letters that have their own sound. The most common ones are discussed below.
| Dutch | IPA, Notes |
|---|---|
| ch | [ɣ] / [x], the infamous Dutch sound (again). It sounds a bit like loch (Scottish English). [ʃ] in loanwords, like chocolade and China. Can also sound like [tʃ], like in check. |
| ng | [ŋ], like in long |
| nj | [ɲ], like the Spanish ñ |
| nk | [ŋk], the ng sound followed by a k |
| sch | [sɣ] / [sx] at the beginning of words. At the end of a word, it sounds like [s] |
| tie | [tsi], at the end of words |
| tj | [c], is followed by an e, sounds like cheer |
| au, ou | [ʌu], like in out |
| ei, ij | [ɛi], roughly like may |
| eu | [øː], roughly like earth or bird |
| oe | [u], like boot |
| ui | [œy], tricky. Roughly like house (Scottish English) |
In Dutch, there are two words that are used to negate things: niet and geen. They are, however, not interchangeable. And since this is Dutch, there are some exceptions to this rule as well.
Geen is used to negate a noun that, if not negated, would be preceded by een. You can say that geen translates to ‘not a’. Geen is also used if the noun is not preceded by any article, like some plural and uncountable nouns.
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Is dat een man? – Nee, dat is geen man. | Is that a man? – No, that is not a man. |
| Hebben zij boeken? – Nee, zij hebben geen boeken. | Do they have books? – No, they don’t have books. |
Note that geen can always be translated as the English word "no": That is no man. They have no books. For niet, this is almost never the case.
Niet is essentially used in all other situations:
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Ik ren niet. | I do not run. |
| Hij is niet zo oud. | He is not that old. |
| Zij hebben de boeken niet. | They do not have the books. |
As you can see in the last example, niet comes after the object, unlike geen. If it is used to negate an adjective or adverb, it comes directly before that word.
Turning a sentence into a question is relatively easy in Dutch. Unlike in English, where you often have to add the auxiliary verb "to do", you only have to change the word order of the sentence to form a question. For example:
As you can see, the subject and the verb switch places in a question. This is called inversion and you will also encounter it when you learn more complicated sentence structures.
When a sentence is inverted, that is, the verb comes before the subject, an odd thing can happen: if the subject is je (or the stressed form "jij"), then the verb loses the -t at the end.
This does not happen for any other subject, like hij or ze! So keep a close eye out for the combination of inversion + je.
Dutch has four ways of making a plural, two of which are very rare.
The most common way of making a plural is noun + en. The first lesson of this skill has only these.
The second most common way of making a plural is noun + s. You'll see this in the last lesson of this skill!
The two rare ways are noun + eren, and plurals ending in -a. That last one is only used for words which come from Latin, and for all of these it's also correct to just pluralize it with -s.
As with many things in Dutch grammar, the rules for when to use which aren't very clear. There are some guidelines, but the best way to learn them is by slowly developing a feeling for it.
With that being said, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Dutch knows two types of pronouns: stressed (or marked) and unstressed (or unmarked) pronouns. The difference lies in the fact that stressed pronouns, as suggested, receive emphasis whereas unstressed pronouns do not. The stressed and unstressed personal pronouns that are taught in this skill are listed below:
| Dutch (unstressed/unmarked) | Dutch (stressed/marked) | English |
|---|---|---|
| Je | Jij | You (singular) |
| Ze | Zij | She, They |
| We | Wij | We |
The other personal pronouns (ik, u, hij, het, and jullie) don’t have a different stressed and unstressed personal pronoun in written language. In speaking, there are other ways to denote emphasis for these (see below).
There are also stressed forms of certain object pronouns (me/mij, je/jou) and possessives (je/jouw), but you will learn about those later.
Marked pronouns are less used than the unmarked ones, but they are important nonetheless. In some situations (such as comparisons) the meaning of the sentence forces you to emphasize the pronoun, so that it would be unnatural to use the unstressed form. This skill will demonstrate some of those cases, so that you can develop a feeling for this use of emphasis.
However, in most sentences the pronouns can be either stressed or unstressed, depending heavily on context and intonation. That is why in Duolingo exercises (which lack both of those), the two forms are usually interchangeable. The pronunciation is different though, so pay extra attention during listening exercises!
In contrast, when you’re using an unmarked pronoun, you should emphasize another part of the sentence, like the verb or the object!
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Jij moet dat doen. | You have to do that. (it's not my job) |
| Je moet dat doen. | You have to do that. (and not something else) |
| Zij gaan naar huis. | They are going home. (while we are staying here) |
| Ze gaan naar huis. | They are going home. (and not downtown) |
Perhaps the most difficult thing for native Dutch speakers, is to put a -t at the end of a verb at the right time.
Especially when the verb stem ends with a -d, as is the case with houden (the stem is, of course, houd-). You will often hear natives talking about the -dt ending, but in truth this ending does not exist: if you simply follow the conjugation rules it's just stem + t.
As a refresher, the verb conjugation table for the present:
| Pronoun | Conjugation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ik | [stem] | Ik drink (I drink) |
| Jij | [stem] + t | Jij drinkt (You drink) |
| Hij/Zij/Het | [stem] + t | Hij drinkt (He drinks) |
| U | [stem] + t | U drinkt (You drink) |
| Wij | Infinitive | Wij drinken (We drink) |
| Jullie | Infinitive | Jullie drinken (You drink) |
| Zij | Infinitive | Zij drinken (They drink) |
Now let's replace drinken with houden:
| Pronoun | Conjugation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ik | [stem] | Ik houd |
| Jij | [stem] + t | Jij houdt |
| Hij/Zij/Het | [stem] + t | Hij houdt |
| U | [stem] + t | U houdt |
| Wij | Infinitive | Wij houden |
| Jullie | Infinitive | Jullie houden |
| Zij | Infinitive | Zij houden |
Another difficulty with this arises in sentences which are questions. In particular, the problem-or rather, confusion- is with the second and third person singular, jij and hij. The rules are as follows:
So, at first sight you might say Houdt je vader van mij? "Does your father love me?", is incorrect; after all, je is after the verb, so it should not get a -t. However, je is not the second person singular here; it's the possessive. The subject, je vader, can be replaced with hij: Houdt hij van mij? and the rule is that the third person singular always gets the -t.
There are some more d/t/dt difficulties in other verb tenses, but those are for another skill!
If an adjective comes before a noun with a definite article ("de" or "het"), it usually gets the ending -e.
Singular:
Plural:
An -e is also added if there is a demonstrative or possessive pronoun instead of a definite article
If the indefinite article ”een" comes before a het-word in the singular, then the adjective does not get the -e ending.
If it comes before a de-word, it does get the ending.
Singular:
Plural:
The following words act like “een” in that the adjective does not get an ending when preceded by them and if the noun being described is a het-word:
If no article at all comes before a het-word, then the adjective does not get the -e ending either.
If no article comes before a de-word, it does get the ending.
Put simply, predicate adjectives are adjectives that follow a linking verb like “to be” that describe the subject.
The adjective “green” in “The ball is green.” is a predicate adjective.
In Dutch, predicate adjectives don’t get any ending.
Some adjectives don’t get any ending.
These include:
+adjectives ending in -en (this includes participles of verbs acting as adjectives that end in -en) + eigen: mijn eigen hond (my own dog) + tevreden: de tevreden katten (the satisfied cats) + gebroken: de gebroken lamp (the broken lamp) + open: het open boek (the open book) + opgewonden: de opgewonden kinderen (the excited children)
Adjectives ending in -a or an unstressed -e
Adjectives with ordinal numbers in the first part
rechter (right) and linker (left) are not inflected:
NOTE: if the fact that a noun is “left” or “right” is considered a fixed attribute, then “linker” and “rechter” are usually connected to the noun.
Dutch has two different object pronoun types: stressed and unstressed. The stressed is used for emphasis. The full table:
| English | Dutch (unstressed) | Dutch (stressed) |
|---|---|---|
| me | me | mij |
| you (singular) | je | jou |
| you (formal) | u | u |
| him/her/it | hem/haar/het | hem/haar/-* |
| us | ons | ons |
| you (plural) | jullie | jullie |
| them (persons) | ze | hun/hen** |
| them (inanimate) | ze | -* |
The Dutch possessives are as follows:
| English | Dutch |
|---|---|
| my | mijn |
| your (singular) | je/jouw* |
| your (formal) | uw |
| his/her/its | zijn/haar/zijn** |
| our | ons/onze*** |
| your (plural) | jullie/je**** |
| their | hun |
Independent Possessives do not precede a noun. In English they are one word, but in Dutch you need to include de or het. Which of the two you need depends on the noun you are referring to.
| English | Dutch |
|---|---|
| mine | de/het mijne |
| yours (singular) | de/het jouwe |
| yours (formal) | de/het uwe |
| his/hers/its | de/het zijne/hare/-* |
| ours | de/het onze** |
| yours (plural) | -* |
| theirs | de/het hunne |
In Dutch, there is another way of saying something belongs to someone, using the word van.
| English | Dutch |
|---|---|
| mine | van mij |
| yours (singular) | van jou |
| yours (formal) | van u |
| his/hers/its | van hem/haar/-* |
| ours | van ons |
| yours (plural) | van jullie |
| theirs | van hen |
"Conjunction junction, what's your function? Hooking up words and phrases and clauses." - Schoolhouse Rock Video
Conjunctions link sentences together and describe some relationship between them. Dutch knows two different types of conjunctions, each with their own grammar rules. In this skill you will only encounter coordinating conjunctions, which link two sentences or words that are roughly of equal importance.
The common Dutch coordinating conjunctions are: en, of, maar, want and dus.
There are only five of them, so learn these by heart! In comparison, there are many different subordinating conjunctions. Those bring along complicated rules for word order in subordinate clauses and are treated in a later skill.
Coordinating conjunctions do not change the word order of the individual sentences that they link. In that regard they are very simple and used in the exact same way as their English equivalents.
A common mistake with the formal 'you' in Dutch (u), even amongst native speakers, is to capitalize the u. This should only be reserved for deities. Being polite to others is a very good thing, but addressing them as deities might be a bit too much.
So, write Heeft u een kat?, not Heeft U een kat?
Unless of course you're asking the deity of your choice whether he/she/it owns a cat.
Adverbs tell you something about the time, place or manner (the "when", "where", "why") of a verb or adjective. In this skill and the next, you will learn a handful of very common adverbs and see how they affect the Dutch word order.
Dutch word order is very flexible and very strict at the same time when it comes to adverbs. There are several different places in a sentence where adverbs can be inserted, but there are also a lot of arbitrary rules.
In most cases, the adverb comes after the verb. If the verb has an object (the person or thing that is receiving the action of the verb), then the adverb comes before or after the object, depending on whether it is definite or indefinite.
A definite object is either a definite pronoun ("me/mij", "je/jou", etc), or a noun with a definite article ("de", "het") or possessive ("mijn", "jouw", etc). Adverbs usually come after a definite object:
An indefinite object is an indefinite pronoun ("iets", "iemand", etc) or a noun with an indefinite article ("een") or no article. Adverbs always come before an indefinite object:
NOTE: It is always possible to put an adverb at the beginning of the sentence, for emphasis. This will cause inversion and is shown in the Word Order 2 skill.
Linguists say that Dutch has a V2 word order. This means that the verb is always the second element of the sentence (except in yes or no questions and commands). If you are struggling with Dutch word order, this is the most important rule to remember!
In Dutch, just like in English, you can move words to the beginning of the sentence to give them more emphasis. However, the V2 word order requires that the verb must remain in the second place. Therefore, as another word is moved to the first place, the verb switches places with the subject. This is called inversion.
It follows the same rules as yes/no questions: if the subject is "je" or "jij", then the verb loses its -t after inversion.
Adverbs are often moved to the beginning for emphasis, but the same can be done with the object of the sentence. This will change the word order to OVS (Object-Verb-Subject), which can make a sentence very ambiguous! Furthermore, prepositional phrases and subclauses can also cause inversion, but you will see this in later skills.
Dutch word order can get extremely complicated, but don't get discouraged! People will still understand you if you mess this up.
As you will see, the verb to live has two main translations, wonen and leven. However, those two verbs do not have the same meaning.
Wonen denotes the place you reside.
Ik woon in Nederland.
(I live in the Netherlands.)
Ik woon in een klein huis.
(I live in a small house.)
Leven means to be alive, to exist.
Ik leef nog.
(I am still alive.)
There are two types of questions, both in English and in Dutch: open and closed.
Closed questions
Closed questions can only be answered with 'yes' (ja) or 'no' (nee).
Example:
What you'll notice about English closed questions, is that they are often formed with an auxiliary verb like 'to do'.
Example:
Other times, English applies something called inversion.
Example:
Dutch only applies inversion to form closed questions. Example:
Open questions
Open questions normally start with a so-called interrogative pronoun like:
Example:
Conjunctions connect two sentences or phrases. You already learned the basic coordinating conjunctions, such as en, of, maar, want and dus. Nearly all other conjunctions are subordinating. These introduce a subordinate clause and link it with the main part of the sentence. Subordinating conjunctions have various functions:
A subordinate clause uses a special word order, something that most learners really struggle with. Instead of using V2 ("verb second") word order, the verbs in a subordinate clause always come at the end.
If the subordinate clause is placed before the main clause (for emphasis), then the main clause will be inverted; that is, the subject and the verb will switch places.
Note that clauses which follow a coordinating conjunction (like want, of or dus) can never be moved to the beginning of the sentence.
*Of is coordinating when it means "or", but subordinating when it means "whether/if".
In Dutch, something cannot just be somewhere. When describing its location, it is either lying, standing or sitting there. The glass you are drinking from is standing on a table, the wine is sitting in the glass and the cat is lying on the floor. For each of these three examples, using the verb "to be" would be very unnatural in Dutch. For English speakers, this can be quite confusing! When are you supposed to use which verb?
The verb ‘zitten’ (= to sit) is used to describe the location of:
1. an object that is located inside of something else, such as a box, a bag or a cupboard (usually together with the preposition "in").
2. a person or an animal that is explicitly sitting down.
The verb ‘liggen’ (= to lie) is used to describe the location of:
1. an object that is lying on its side. Or, if it has no side, in any position where it is wider than it is tall.
2. a geographical area or feature, such as a country, mountain, city, neighborhood, park, field, etc.
3. a person or animal that is explicitly lying down, or dead.
The verb ‘staan’ (= to stand) is used to describe the location of:
1. an object that is the right way up. Or, if there is no right way up, in any position where it is taller than it is wide.
2. an object that is resting on legs or wheels, such as a table or a car.
3. text or images. These are always described as ‘standing’ on whatever surface they are written/drawn/printed/painted/displayed on.
4. All buildings use "staan", unless it's a complex of buildings or it includes some land around it. Then you can also use "liggen".
5. a person or animal that is explicitly standing up.
There are some exceptions, where "zijn" (=to be) can also describe a location:
There is also a corresponding verb for putting an object in its location for each of these verbs describing the location of an object.
| Action | Result of action | |
|---|---|---|
| leggen | - | liggen |
| zetten | - | staan |
| stoppen / doen | - | zitten |
Some examples may make this more clear:
All three verbs could be translated as "to put" in English, but they're not interchangeable!
Adverbs say something about a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Adverbs only have one form.
When adjectives function as adverbs, they are not inflected:
These are:
Wonen zij hier? - 'Do they live here?'
The adjectives of time:
Het is nu mooi weer - 'The weather is nice now.
Note! In an affirmative clause, an adverb of time mostly comes before an adverb of place.
Hij was gisteren hier - 'He was here yesterday
Some adverbs are used to connect two parts. They are:
Hij snoept heel veel, daardoor wordt hij erg dik - 'He eats a lot of sweets, therefore he is getting very fat.'
There are some other, common adverbs:
Ga je ook naar het feest? - 'Are you also going to the party?'
The Dutch read the clock as follows:
In other words, half zeven means half an hour to seven, not past seven. This is especially confusing for the British, who refer to 7:30 as "half seven".
When in English you say in the morning", or "at night" etc., you could literally translate it to in de ochtend or in de nacht. However, Dutch has a more common and shorter way of saying it: 's ochtends or 's avonds.
The 's is short for des, which is an old Dutch word meaning van de or in de. In time it was shortened to just 's. So, while in old Dutch it would be des ochtends or des nachts, we now say 's ochtends or 's nachts.
When 's morgens or anything else starting with 's is at the start of the sentence, something interesting happens with the capitalization. You might expect the 's to become 'S; however, that is not the case, as the "s" is actually the end of a word (see the explanation above). Instead, the capital skips to the next word: 's Morgens.
In English, days of the week and months of the year always start with a capital. Dutch doesn't do this. So while in English you say "It is the first Monday of July," in Dutch you say Het is de eerste maandag van juli.
Introducing... the most annoying, versatile and untranslatable word in the Dutch language. The particle er gives many learners nightmares and is known to have at least five separate uses. In this skill, you will encounter only two of them. Other uses will follow in later skills.
Often, but not always, er can be translated as "there". It is used to express the existence of something:
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Er is een probleem. | There is a problem. |
| Er is iemand in mijn huis. | There is somebody in my house. |
But unlike in English, it can be combined with verbs other than "to be":
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Er slaapt iemand in mijn bed. | There is somebody sleeping in my bed. |
| Somebody is sleeping in my bed. |
In fact, it is often necessary to include er when the subject is indefinite (i.e. doesn't point to a specific person or object). In the above example, you cannot leave it out without adding some strange, unnatural emphasis:
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
Awkward: Iemand slaapt in mijn bed. |
Somebody is sleeping in my bed. |
Indeed, the reason behind these particular rules is emphasis: the first element of the sentence receives a special emphasis, which sounds odd when combined with an indefinite subject. That is why the subject is replaced by er, which is always unstressed. And that is also why the addition of er is unnecessary when there is already a prepositional phrase at the beginning of the sentence:
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| In mijn bed slaapt iemand. | In my bed, there is somebody sleeping. |
In questions with "who", it is also common to include er, although it is not strictly necessary. In this case, it cannot be translated in English.
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Wie slaapt er in mijn bed? | Who is sleeping in my bed? |
Less natural: Wie slaapt in mijn bed? |
Finally, er can also refer to a location, as an unstressed form of "hier" or "daar".
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Zijn we er al? | Are we there yet? |
| Ik werk er graag. | I like working there. |
You will see other uses of er in the skills Numbers 2, Pronominal Adverbs and Passive Voice.
Modal verbs are used to indicate how an action is performed, in other words whether it's voluntary, permitted, etc. The following table lists the most common modal verbs:
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| willen | to want to |
| kunnen | can/to be able to |
| moeten | must/to have to |
| mogen | may/to be allowed to |
| blijven | to keep (doing sth.), to stay |
| laten | to let |
| komen | to come (in order to do sth.) |
Modal verbs are followed by the infinitive of another verb, which is placed at the end of the sentence. In Dutch, the infinitive is always the same as the plural form of the present simple (usually ending on -en). Some examples:
Several of the modal verbs have an irregular conjugation:
| - | willen | kunnen | mogen |
|---|---|---|---|
| ik | wil | kan | mag |
| jij/u | wil/wilt* | kan/kunt* | mag |
| hij/zij/het | wil | kan | mag |
| wij/jullie/zij | willen | kunnen | mogen |
*both are possible, but in formal writing you should use the form ending on -t.
These three verbs, all describing sensations, are not modal verbs, but they can behave in exactly the same way. When you see, hear or feel somebody (or something) performing an action, the infinitive comes at the end of the sentence:
Er: describing a quantity (lesson 5)
When placed before a number, “er” means of them. This is best shown in some examples:
Sometimes it doesn’t need to be translated, like in the second example. You cannot leave out “er” in the Dutch sentence, though!
In Dutch, the continuous is not as common as it is in English, but it's still fairly common. There are six ways of making a continuous:
Prepositions come before a (pro)noun and describe some kind of relationship to this noun. They are one of the basic building blocks of language. However, Dutch also has circumpositions. These words act like prepositions, but they have two parts which can split up and come on either side of the noun. Usually the first part is a regular preposition and the second part - the postposition (similar to a preposition, but it comes after the word it refers to) - changes the meaning slightly.
For example, consider the word "naartoe". In most sentences it will split up and become:
The addition of "toe" adds some movement to the preposition "naar", which normally just describes a direction. The same is true for some of the other circumpositions, like "doorheen", "overheen" and "onderdoor", all of which show movement. You will get to practice these words in Lesson 4 of this skill.
The name of the present perfect is deceiving: it describes actions that happened in the past, not those happening in the present. In Dutch, the present perfect is a very common way to refer to the past, far more so than in English. In fact, the Dutch present perfect can not always be translated as the English present perfect, or vice verse. They serve slightly different roles, as we will see below.
The present perfect in Dutch describes a past action, but from the point of the view of the present. It draws attention to the results of the action, rather than the action itself. When translating this tense to English, it is best to use either the present perfect or the past simple, depending on the context. There are some exceptions and special cases, a few of which are discussed at the end of this note.
For the conjugation of the past tense in Dutch, we can distinguish between weak verbs, strong verbs and completely irregular verbs:
Some verbs that are strong in the present perfect might be weak or irregular in the past simple, or the other way around. However, this skill only focuses on weak verbs in the present perfect. You will encounter the other cases in later skills.
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Ik heb iets geleerd. | I (have) learned something. |
| Jij hebt hard gewerkt. | You (have) worked hard. |
| We zijn naar huis gefietst. | We (have) biked home. |
Looking at the examples above, there are a few things that stand out:
When should you use “hebben” or “zijn”? That depends on the verb; the vast majority use “hebben”. Verbs that describe a motion in a particular direction often use “zijn” (as in the last example above). So do intransitive verbs (i.e. without an object) that describe a change or development (e.g. “komen”, “beginnen”, “groeien”, etc.). Lastly, linking verbs such as “zijn” itself, “worden” and “blijven” all use “zijn” as an auxiliary verb in the present perfect.
When should you use -d or -t as a suffix? That depends on the last letter of the verb’s stem. Most verbs get the -d ending, except those whose stem ends in ch, f, k, p, s or t (there are a few more, but those are highly uncommon). A word that could help you to remember these is the word 't kofschip. Another mnemonic is soft ketchup. If the stem ends on a consonant that is in these mnemonics, the participle receives a -t. If the stem already ends in a -d or -t, it does not get another one added to it. Applying these rules to the examples above gives:
| Verb | Stem | Soft Ketchup? | Participle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leren | leer | no | geleerd |
| Werken | werk | yes | gewerkt |
| Fietsen | fiets | yes | gefietst |
Words that start with be-, er-, ge-, her-, ont- or ver- do not get the extra prefix ge- in the present perfect.
WRONG: I have worked hard yesterday.Separable verbs consist of two parts: a prefix and a base verb. As the name implies, these can split up and move to different parts of the sentence. Whether this happens depends on the conjugation and on the word order, as explained below.
While English doesn't have separable verbs, they are somewhat similar to so-called phrasal verbs, such as: stand up, write down, fill in or hang out. Often but not nearly always, a Dutch separable verb can be translated as an English phrasal verb. Using combinations of prepositions and existing verbs, there are an almost unlimited number of separable verbs in Dutch, each with a subtle difference in meaning or connotation.
A finite verb is a verb that is conjugated to match the subject. I am happy, because I have seen a beautiful duck. In this sentence, am and have are finite verbs (they match the subject I), but seen is not (it is a past participle). If a Dutch separable verb is finite, then the verb is split in two and the prefix moves to the back of the sentence. For example, the verb "aanraken" (to touch) becomes:
Note that while the word "aan" can also be a preposition, in this case it's not. It is a part of the verb!
An exception to the above rule occurs in subordinate clauses (covered in the Conjunctions 2 skill). There, the finite verb is always moved to the end of the clause, so there is no need to split up the separable verb:
The infinite form (or infinitive) of a separable verb is usually written as one word:
In some cases, the infinitive will also be separated. For example, this happens when it is accompanied by "te", which always comes between the prefix and the base verb. When there are multiple infinitives in the sentence, or when the infinitive is part of a subclause, you can often choose whether to split the separable verb or not.
The past participle of a verb is mostly used in the present perfect (one of the past tense forms). In Dutch, this form is constructed with the prefix "ge-". For separable verbs, this prefix comes in between the original prefix and the base verb. It is written as one word:
Sometimes, auxiliary verbs cannot be followed by just the infinitive, but need the preposition te first. This can happen in several situations.
The Dutch continuous aspect can be formed in several different ways. One of these is
STAAN/ZITTEN/LIGGEN/LOPEN/HANGEN + TE + INFINITIVE
With this construction one can specify in which position the subject is. And yes, mostly it really doesn't matter, but still we add it.
| Dutch | English | Additional thought |
|---|---|---|
| Hij ligt te slapen. | He is sleeping. | (while he is lying) |
| Ze zit te lezen. | She is reading. | (while she is sitting) |
The verbable is an equivalent for an adjective derived from a verb.
It is created using the following pattern:
ZIJN/BLIJVEN/VALLEN + TE + INFINITIVE
| Verbable construction | Adjective construction | English |
|---|---|---|
| Dat is te begrijpen. | Dat is begrijpelijk. | That is understandable. |
| Valt het te repareren? | Is het repareerbaar? | Is it repairable? |
Since these verbs have little in common, you'll have to try to memorize them.
DURVEN | HEBBEN | HOEVEN
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Hij durft te springen. | He dares to jump. |
| Hij hoeft niet te vertrekken. | He doesn't have to leave. |
| Ik heb niets te doen. | I have nothing to do. |
For hebben this isn't always the case; when it means owning something, it can be used without te. For komen, te is only necessary when it is in the sense of something being about to happen.
! In the perfect tense, the te is dropped after these verbs. (see the Modal Perfect skill)
A short subclause is a special type of subclause. The subject is ommited. This structure also exists in English so it should not look too complicated.
| Short subclause | Normal subclause |
|---|---|
| Ik beloof dat te doen. | Ik beloof dat ik dat zal doen. |
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Zonder na te denken | Without thinking |
| Door te springen | By/through jumping |
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Niets te zeggen | Nothing to say |
| Iets te drinken | Something to drink |
Dutch uses the present tense of the first person singular for the imperative. An exception is the imperative of zijn ('to be'), which uses wees (1st pers. sing. of wezen), which is an old-fashioned form of zijn.
For a more polite imperative, you use the present tense of the formal u. This form is officially also used when addressing multiple people, but hardly anyone ever actually does; the normal imperative is used instead.
An exception is when the 'command' is given in a general sense, like 'No smoking'. In this case we simply use the infinitive: Niet roken.
The demonstrative pronoun always points to something or someone and usually gives some emphasis. It can be used both dependent and independent.
The dependent demonstrative pronoun always has that which it points to in the same sentence. Example:
Ik wil dit boek (niet dat boek). - 'I want this book (not that one)'.
The independent demonstrative pronoun points to something which has been mentioned before or which is already known in some other way. Example:
Die is van mij. - 'That one is mine.'
To describe the direction of movement, the prepositions "in", "op" and "uit" are placed after the noun, instead of before it. In other words, they are used as postpositions. Some examples:
Note that all of these indicate a direction. Compare that last sentence to:
Here, the preposition indicates a location, rather than a direction.
These postpositions can be quite confusing, since it's easy to mistake them for part of a separable verb. In the last lesson of this skill, you get to practice with sentences such as these.
Pronominal adverbs do exist in English, but they are rare and you are most likely to find them in legal texts. Here are some examples:
While these English words might not be used very much, this same construction appears everywhere in Dutch. You cannot avoid it!
Pronominal adverbs appear whenever you have the combination of a preposition and a pronoun, as long as the pronoun does not refer to a person. The pronoun is replaced by an adverb of location (here, there, etc) and the preposition is glued behind it, sometimes changing its form slightly. See the English examples above to get a feeling for this. Dutch examples will follow.
This table shows which pronouns turn into which locative (=showing location) adverbs. In the third column, you see an example of the corresponding pronominal adverb, formed with the preposition "in".
| Pronoun | Locative Adverb | Pronominal Adverb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| het | er | erin | in it |
| dat | daar | daarin | in that |
| dit | hier | hierin | in this |
| wat | waar | waarin | in what/which |
| alles | overal | overal in | in everything |
| iets | ergens | ergens in | in something |
| niets | nergens | nergens in | not in anything |
By far the most common pronominal adverbs are formed with er. In English these translate to preposition + it , referring back to some object that was already mentioned.
Notice that in English you can also say "What is in there?". Replacing it by there could be a remnant from when English also used pronominal adverbs!
If you are referring to specific things nearby or far away from you, you can use hier or daar to form the adverb. This corresponds to a preposition + this/that in English.
Pronominal adverbs with 'er', 'hier', 'daar' or 'waar' are usually spelled as one word. However, in many cases they can be split up, for example by another adverb or by an indefinite object (see the Word Order 1 skill). Occasionally this is even mandatory (e.g. with an indefinite subject). Some examples:
For the conjugation of the past tense in Dutch, we can distinguish between weak verbs, strong verbs and completely irregular verbs:
Some verbs that are weak in the present perfect might be strong or irregular in the past simple, or the other way around. This skill focuses on strong and irregular verbs in the present perfect.
For strong verbs, the past participle is formed with the prefix ge- and the suffix -en. As mentioned above, the vowel in the verb's stem often changes. Unfortunately there are no rules for these vowel changes. Some examples:
| Strong verb | Past participle |
|---|---|
| drinken | gedronken |
| doen | gedaan |
| zwemmen | gezwommen |
| schrijven | geschreven |
| lezen | gelezen |
| beginnen | begonnen |
Note: words that start with be-, er-, ge-, her-, ont- or ver- do not get the extra prefix ge- in the present perfect. See the last example above.
In this skill you will also encounter a few truly irregular verbs that do not follow the pattern above. These are:
| Irregular verb | Past participle |
|---|---|
| zijn | geweest |
| hebben | gehad |
| kopen | gekocht |
| zoeken | gezocht |
| brengen | gebracht |
| denken | gedacht |
Diminutives are very common in Dutch. They always end in -je, are all het-words and, depending on the phonology of the word, other letters may have to be added before it. There are quite a few possible combinations, but apart from -je there are four main ones:
More complicated rules and forms exist, but the above details the basics of the Dutch diminutives.
Diminutives can be used to do the following in Dutch:
kat "cat" + -je = kitten
De kaas heeft een vreemd smaakje. = "The cheese has an odd taste."
Wat spreken die Nederlanders toch een raar taaltje. = "What a strange language those Dutch speak."
Wat een leuk vliegtuigje! = "What a cute (little) airplane!"
Lekker wijntje! = "Delicious wine!"
Some diminutives are no longer necessarily regarded as diminutive forms, but are used alongside the basis words on their own:
Many diminutives obtain a different meaning from the basis words:
Just like English, Dutch has a second way to describe actions in the past, beside the frequently used present perfect. The past simple (a.k.a imperfectum or “onvoltooid verleden tijd” (OVT) in Dutch) is used as a storytelling tense. It describes a past event or past situation from the perspective of the past, often as a part of a longer story. This is in contrast to the present perfect, which focuses on the results of a past action. However, the two tenses are interchangeable in many cases.
The past simple in Dutch can be translated to either the past simple or the past continuous in English, whichever sounds more natural.
For weak (regular) verbs, the simple past is formed with the suffix -de(n) or -te(n). Which one you use is determined by the same rules as for the past participle: if the verb’s stem end on a ch, f, k, p, s or t (the consonants of soft ketchup), then the simple past ends on -te(n). If not, one uses -de(n). The -n is added for plural conjugations (wij, jullie, zij).
| Verb | Stem | Soft Ketchup? | Simple Past |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leren | leer | no | leerde(n) |
| Werken | werk | yes | werkte(n) |
| Fietsten | fiets | yes | fietste(n) |
| Willen | wil | no | wilde(n) |
If the stem already ends on a -d or -t, then it gets an extra one. For example, the verb "praten" (to talk) becomes "praatte(n)". Note that "praten" and "praatten" are pronounced the same; when listening, you need to determine the tense from context. Some more examples:
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Ik leerde snel. | I learned quickly. |
| Wij werkten in de bakkerij. | We were working in the bakery. |
| Hij fietste naar huis. | He biked home. |
| Wilden jullie ook koffie? | Did you also want coffee? |
| De mannen praatten de hele nacht | The men were talking all night. |
In this skill, you will also encounter the simple past conjugations of a few irregular verbs:
| --- | Zijn | Hebben | Doen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular: | was | had | deed |
| Plural: | waren | hadden | deden |
Sometimes, a verb needs the subject to be the object as well. These are reflexive verbs. They exist in English too: "I wash myself", "He teaches himself", etc. In Dutch, they are much more common, however.
There are two forms of the reflexive pronouns: stressed and unstressed. We don't often use the stressed form, but it's still good to know it.
| English | Dutch unstressed | Dutch stressed |
|---|---|---|
| myself | me | mezelf |
| yourself | je | jezelf |
| yourself (formal | zich | uzelf |
| himself/herself/itself | zich | zichzelf |
| ourselves | ons | onszelf |
| yourselves | je | jezelf |
| themselves | zich | zichzelf |
In this skill you will practice with both weak and strong verbs in the present perfect. For extensive grammar notes, please review the previous two skills on this topic.
The future tense can be formed in two ways in Dutch:
These two can also be used together, just like in English.
Zullen + infinitive is used in the following cases:
The conjugation:
| Person | Future | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ik | zal schrijven | I will write |
| Jij | zal/zult* schrijven | You will write |
| U | zal/zult* schrijven | You will write (formal) |
| Hij/Zij/Het | zal schrijven | He/She/It will write |
| Wij | zullen schrijven | We will write |
| Jullie | zullen schrijven | You will write (plural) |
| Zij | zullen schrijven | They will write |
*Both zal and zult are correct, but zal is considered informal.
Gaan + infinitive is used as follows:
| Person | Future | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ik | ga schrijven | I am going to write |
| Jij | gaat schrijven | You are going to write |
| U | gaat schrijven | You are going to write (formal) |
| Hij/Zij/Het | gaat schrijven | He/She/It is going to write |
| Wij | gaan schrijven | We are going to write |
| Jullie | gaan schrijven | You are going to write (plural) |
| Zij | gaan schrijven | They are going to write |
The "steps of comparison", as they are referred to in Dutch, are used to turn an adjective (good) into a comparative (better) or a superlative (best). These are formed by adding suffixes to the adjective, much like in English. This process is mostly regular, with a few important exceptions.
The comparative, as the name implies, compares the properties of two objects, or of the same object in different situations or at different times. In English, the comparative is sometimes created with the adverb more. That is not the case in Dutch, where it is usually constructed by adding the suffix -er or -ere, following the standard rules for adjectives about the -e at the end. As usual, the consonant at the end of the adjective's stem might double or change, as a result of the Dutch spelling rules. If the stem ends on the letter r, then the suffix becomes -der or -dere, to make pronunciation easier. Some examples are below:
Het meisje is sneller dan de jongen. - The girl is faster than the boy.
Duurdere wijn - More expensive wine
The highest step is the superlative, which compares an object with all other objects, or with all other situations or points in time. Again, Dutch does not normally use the adverb most, but adds the suffix -st or -ste. Like in English, the superlative must always follow a definite article (de or het).
De duurste wijn - The most expensive wine
De jongen is het snelst. - The boy is the fastest.
Note that even though jongen is a de-word, the superlative in that last sentence becomes het snelst. The reason is that it is a predicate adjective (it comes after the noun), which does not reflect the gender (de/het) of the noun. However, it is also allowed to say:
In this case it is implied that the noun jongen is repeated after the superlative: "De jongen is de snelste (jongen)."
Graag is an adverb, and one of those annoying Dutch words that does not have an English equivalent. It tells you that the subject enjoys performing the action that is described by the verb, often translated as "like to" + infinitive.
Strangely enough, graag has a comparative and a superlative form: liever and liefst. These mean, respectively, that you prefer doing something over something else, and that you prefer it over anything else. You can translate them as "like more to" and "like best to", or by using some form of "to prefer".
Sometimes you want to describe what stuff is made out of. To make an adjective of a material, add the suffix -en to the noun. Unlike regular adjectives, these are not declined, so they do not change depending on what word comes after. They do not get an additional -e. Here are some examples:
| Meaning | Noun | Adjective | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| wood | hout | - | houten | wooden |
| wool | wol | - | wollen | woolen |
| concrete | beton | - | betonnen | made of concrete |
| glass | glas | - | glazen | made of glass |
| silk | zijde | - | zijden | made of silk |
There are two exceptions to this rule: plastic and aluminium do not get the suffix -en.
However, unlike English, you cannot use the noun form as an adjective.
For example:
The predicative form doesn't exist for these -en adjectives. Instead, you will have to use van + noun. This is short for gemaakt van ("made of"), but the verb can be safely dropped.
For example:
This form can also appear without a predicate:
The Dutch law requires all children between the ages of 4 and 16 to be in school. There is a division between primary and secondary school. Almost all schools in the Netherlands are public. There are no uniforms and boarding schools are nearly non-existent.
"De basisschool" is for children from 4 to 12 years old. In most schools, children will stay in the same class during this entire period. The teacher of the class might change from year to year. Starting at age 6, children will be taught to read and write and do basic arithmetic.
In their last year of primary school, all students do a standardized test (the CITO test). Their score determines (in part) what kind of secondary school the student can go to.
At age 12, children will go to a "middelbare school", technically known as "voortgezet onderwijs" (literally: continued education). There are secondary schools of different levels:
At many schools, students only decide after their first or second year (a so-called "brugklas") at which level they want to study. After graduating at a certain level (passing the standardized final exams), it is possible to continue at a higher level (typically taking an additional year).
Students have some freedom to choose what classes to take in secondary school, allowing them to start specializing in a topic of interest as early as age 14 or 15. They must choose one of four profiles or sectors, with a focus on natural sciences, life sciences, humanities or economics. This choice will affect their options for post-secondary eduction.
A relative pronoun refers back to a person or object that already appears elsewhere in the sentence: The man who is walking his dog. The hat that the man is wearing.
In English, the relative pronoun can often be left out. In Dutch, however, this is not possible; the relative pronoun is an essential part of the sentence. Each pronoun has certain rules for its usage, which differ significantly from English, as can be seen in the examples below.
Die: refers back to a de-word.
Dat: refers back to a het-word.
Preposition + Wie: refers back to a person.
Waar + preposition: refers back to an object. See also the Pronominal Adverbs skill.
Wat: refers to a whole sentence, to an indefinite pronoun ("alles", "iets", "niets", etc.) or to an adjective that is used as a noun.
Wiens: a possessive reflexive pronoun, equivalent to the English "whose". This form is slightly archaic and is mostly being replaced by "van wie". Originally it could only refer to masculine nouns.
For strong verbs, the simple past is fully irregular and needs to be learned by heart. In case of a singular subject, we use the stem of the verb with the vowel changed. For plural, the suffix -en is added. Note that the vowel change is sometimes different from the past participle. For example:
| Verb | Past Participle | Simple Past Singular | Simple Past Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lezen | gelezen | las | lazen |
| Zwemmen | gezwommen | zwom | zwommen |
| Spreken | gesproken | sprak | spraken |
| Liggen | gelegen | lag | lagen |
| Kijken | gekeken | keek | keken |
This skill also includes some verbs that are even more irregular: not only the vowel changes, but also some of the consonants. Some examples:
| Verb | Past Participle | Simple Past Singular | Simple Past Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zeggen | gezegd | zei | zeiden |
| Kopen | gekocht | kocht | kochten |
| Zien | gezien | zag | zagen |
| Mogen | gemogen* | mocht | mochten |
| Moeten | gemoeten* | moest | moesten |
| Houden | gehouden | hield | hielden |
| Weten | geweten | wist | wisten |
| Komen | gekomen | kwam | kwamen |
*These forms are not commonly used. See the Modal Perfect skill for an explanation.
The passive voice is used to describe actions from the point of view of the object of the verb: "I am being seen." or "The book has been read". This way, the subject (the person who is seeing me, or who has read the book) is eliminated from the sentence.
In Dutch the passive is constructed using the past participle (also used in the present perfect) and an auxiliary verb. There are two different auxiliary verbs used in the Dutch passive: worden for the dynamical passive voice and zijn for the stative passive voice. This distinction does not really exist in English, but it roughly corresponds to the different tenses, as explained below.
The dynamical passive voice is constructed with the auxiliary verb worden, to describe ongoing actions. In the present tense, this refers to things that are going on right now, that will happen in the near future, or that happen repeatedly. In English this often translates to the continuous aspect. For example:
But in some cases, especially recurring events or general truths, the present simple works as well:
In English one can also use the informal "get"-construction for the dynamical passive voice:
Note: The subject, who performs the action, can still be added to the sentence using the preposition door.
The stative passive voice is constructed with the auxiliary verb zijn, to describe the state of things after something has been done to them. This corresponds to the perfect aspect: the action has been completed, it lies in the past. There are several ways to translate this to English, the most natural one being the present perfect passive:
However, it is also possible to use the past simple, or in some cases, the present:
Whereas the perfect perfect in the passive voice is constructed with zijn, the past simple uses werden (i.e. the past tense of worden). A lot of the time, this conveys a *continuous aspect.
Unlike English, Dutch can also use the passive voice with intransitive verbs: verbs that do not have an object. In this case, the place of the object is taken by that versatile and infuriating little word, er. The advantage is that one can use a verb to describe an action without any subject or object. The disadvantage is that there is simply no good way to translate this construction literally into English. For example:
This means that someone, somewhere, is walking. Who and where should be derived from context, the sentence only states that walking is what is happening. The best we can do in English is to use the gerund (a noun created from a verb with the suffix "-ing"):
Another option is to introduce an undetermined subject:
In other cases, it might be best to completely change the structure of the sentence.
The impersonal passive voice is used a lot in Dutch, and finding an English translation is always awkward. It can be used both with worden and with zijn as an auxiliary. If you are confused, do not be afraid to use the hints.
The conditional is very similar to the Future tense in how it's made. However, instead of the present tense zullen, we use its past tense: zouden. The conditional is used to refer to hypothetical situations.
| Person | Conditional | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ik | zou schrijven | I would write |
| Jij | zou schrijven | You would write |
| U | zou schrijven | You would write (formal) |
| Hij/Zij/Het | zou schrijven | He/She/It would write |
| Wij | zouden schrijven | We would write |
| Jullie | zouden schrijven | You would write (plural) |
| Zij | zouden schrijven | They would write |
In addition to meaning "would" on its own, "zouden" can carry other meanings in combination with certain modal verbs.
"zouden" + "moeten" gives you "should".
"zouden" + "kunnen", literally "would (+) be able to", gives you "could".
Like in English, it is sometimes possible to use the simple past in a conditional construction, rather than the official "zouden" (would). Note that Dutch does not have a subjunctive mood anymore (If I were...).
The pluperfect, or past perfect, is used when referring to something that happened in the past, before something else which also happened in the past. In Dutch, it's made exactly like the present perfect, except with the simple past tense of hebben or zijn.
| Person | Past Perfect | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ik | had geschreven | I had written |
| Jij | had geschreven | You had written |
| U | had geschreven | You had written (formal) |
| Hij/Zij/Het | had geschreven | He/She/It had written |
| Wij | hadden geschreven | We had written |
| Jullie | hadden geschreven | You had written |
| Zij | hadden geschreven | They had written |
| Person | Past Perfect | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ik | was gevallen | I had fallen |
| Jij | was gevallen | You had fallen |
| U | was gevallen | You had fallen (formal) |
| Hij/Zij/Het | was gevallen | He/She/It had fallen |
| Wij | waren gevallen | We had fallen |
| Jullie | waren gevallen | You had fallen |
| Zij | waren gevallen | They had fallen |
The present participle of a verb is a form that can be used as an adjective or an adverb. It tells you that the corresponding noun is performing a certain action at the moment (in the case of an adjective) or that the action is performed alongside the main verb of the sentence (in the case of an adverb). Some examples will make this more clear:
In English, the present participle ends on -ing. This is a very common form, which is also used in the present continuous (I am walking), as a gerund (I like walking) and in various other constructions. In Dutch, however, the participle is far more rare and only used as an adjective or adverb.
The Dutch present participle is formed by adding -d or -de after the infinitive. When used as an adjective, it follows the standard rules for adding -e at the end:
Why waste a good word when you can use it to make some other words? Just like English speakers, the Dutch love adding suffixes to derive new words from the ones you already know. In this skill, you will encounter some of the most common ones. In fact, you have already come across many of them! Think about:
Unfortunately there is usually no one-to-one correspondence between Dutch and English suffixes. Practice is the only solution! Below you'll find a table with common Dutch suffixes.
| Suffix | from | to | English | de/het |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -heid | adj. | noun | -ness/-y/-dom/? | de |
| -ing | verb | noun | -tion/-ment/-ance/? | de |
| -lijk | noun | adj./adv. | -ly/? | - |
| -ig | noun | adj./adv. | -y/? | - |
| -loos | noun | adj./adv. | -less | - |
| -baar* | verb | adj./adv. | -ble | - |
| -s | adj. | noun | indefinite | het |
*not taught in this skill
If an adjective follows an indefinite pronoun (like "iets" or "niets"), it gets the ending -s. This is a remnant of the old genitive case. In the last lesson of this skill, you will get some practice with this. A few examples:
Something strange happens in Dutch when you want to use the present perfect or past perfect in combination with an auxiliary verb (such a "willen", "kunnen", "laten", etc). Instead of using the past participle (formed with the prefix ge- and suffix -d or -t for regular weak verbs), the infinitive is used. That is why this quirky grammar rule is known as the "vervangende infinitief" in Dutch, or the replacement infinitive. Snobby linguists might refer to it as the infinitivo pro participio (infinitive instead of participle).
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Ik zie haar. | I see her. |
| Ik zie haar dansen. | I see her dance. |
| Ik heb haar gezien. | I have seen her. |
| Ik heb haar zien dansen. | I have seen her dance. |
This last sentence is in the past tense, yet none of the verbs use a past tense conjugation! That can be very confusing – if you are not aware of the construction. Note that "zien" acts as an auxiliary verb in the last sentence, whereas it is the main verb in the third.
The rule does not apply to auxiliary verbs that use "te"+infinitive, such as "proberen". Only the verbs that you learned in the Modal skill are affected. One exception is the odd modal verb "hoeven", which does use the replacement infinitive.
The past participle of a verb is the form most commonly used in the present perfect. However, it can also have the function of an adjective:
When used as an adjective, the past participle has a passive meaning. In other words, the corresponding noun ("potato") is the object of the verb ("to cook"), not the subject. This is a difference between the present and past participle (in addition to the difference in tense!).
In Dutch, the past participle can be used in exactly the same way:
If the verb is weak (i.e. regular, like "koken"), then the past participle ends on either -d or -t (see: Present Perfect 1). In this case, it might get the extra ending -e as an adjective, like in the example above. This follows the standard rules of adjective declension:
However, if the verb is strong (i.e. irregular, such as "snijden" = to cut), then the past participle ends on -en (see: Present Perfect 2). In this case, the adjective never gets the ending -e:
The form "gesnedene" does not exist!
Gezellig is a famous Dutch word. It owes its fame to being impossible to literally translate into English; it's a feeling which simply doesn't exist as such. There are many words which approximate the feeling ("nice", "cozy", "pleasant", to name but a few), but none of them are quite sufficient.
Gezellig is the feeling of having a good time with other people. Whether these people are friends, family, acquaintances or total strangers is unimportant. It's a warm, positive feeling. When in English you can say 'I had a good time', in Dutch you can say Het was gezellig or Ik vond het gezellig.
These last five skills contain a lot of words that are specific to the Netherlands and Belgium. They are supposed to teach you a bit about the Dutch and Belgian cultures, rather than the language. We advise you to keep Wikipedia and/or a map handy so that you can easily find out what these sentences are about.
Dutch history is pretty exciting! It's full of wars, exploration, (state-sponsored) piracy, slavery, oppression and drama. The sentences that you will find in this skill offer only a tiny slice of the rich history of the Low Lands. Note that Dutch people are very proud of their history, yet they do not like to be confronted by the uncomfortable bits. There is still a lot of denial.
Grammar tip: when talking about historical events, we typically use the simple past tense!
These last five skills contain a lot of words that are specific to the Netherlands and Belgium. They are supposed to teach you a bit about the Dutch and Belgian cultures, rather than the language. We advise you to keep Wikipedia and/or a map handy so that you can easily find out what these sentences are about.
These last five skills contain a lot of words that are specific to the Netherlands and Belgium. They are supposed to teach you a bit about the Dutch and Belgian cultures, rather than the language. We advise you to keep Wikipedia and/or a map handy so that you can easily find out what these sentences are about.
These last five skills contain a lot of words that are specific to the Netherlands and Belgium. They are supposed to teach you a bit about the Dutch and Belgian cultures, rather than the language. We advise you to keep Wikipedia and/or a map handy so that you can easily find out what these sentences are about.
These last five skills contain a lot of words that are specific to the Netherlands and Belgium. They are supposed to teach you a bit about the Dutch and Belgian cultures, rather than the language. We advise you to keep Wikipedia and/or a map handy so that you can easily find out what these sentences are about.