Dutch Verbs

1. The Verb Stem
2. The Present Tense
3. The Past Tense
4. Recapitulation
5. To Have and To Be
6. The Perfect Tense

7. The Future Tense
8. The Passive
9. Verbs as Nouns and Adjectives
10. The Continuous
11. For Advanced Students

Reflexive Verbs
Verb Examples - More
Personal Pronouns
NEW: Word Order (Sentences)
Everyday Verbs
Verbs of Motion and Operation

The Dutch verb is in many ways similar to the English verb, though a slightly larger number of endings makes it a little more complicated. Dutch spelling, on the other hand, is much more straightforward than English.

kennen	to know (people)		weten	to know (things)
ik ken jij kent hij kent wij kennen jullie kennen zij kennen U kent hear	(I know) (you know) (he knows) (we know) (you know) (they know) (you know)		ik weet jij weet hij weet wij weten jullie weten zij weten U weet hear	(I know) (you know) (he knows) (we know) (you know) (they know) (you know)	(you - singular) (you - plural) (you - polite)

gaan	to go
ik ga jij gaat hij gaat wij gaan jullie gaan zij gaan U gaat hear - take 2	(I go) (you go) (he goes) (we go) (you go) (they go) (you go)

In each of the verbs above, the vowel length doesn't change.
A double vowel is always long, but a single vowel can be either long or short.
The spelling rules to remember:

A single vowel will be short when followed by two or more consonants - (kennen)
or when followed by a single consonant that is the end of the word - (ken)
A single vowel will be long when it's the end of a word (except single 'e') - (ga)
or (in the middle of a word) when followed by one consonant and another vowel - (weten)
Because, when breaking up the word in syllables, that single consonant will go to the second syllable, leaving an open ending to the first syllable that makes its vowel long - (we-ten)

Also note that the final 'e' in the '-en' endings is voiceless: 'uh.'

The Dutch Spelling page deals at length with the alternating of double and single vowels and consonants and has many spoken examples.

The Verb Stem

Basic Rule: Remove the -en that's usually found at the end of the infinitive of Dutch verbs to get the verb stem.

Exceptions Regular:
If removing the -en would result in a stem ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, then that single vowel will be doubled.
When removing the -en would result in a stem ending in a double consonant, then one of the consonants is dropped. (See Spelling Rules)
Examples:

infinitive	remove -en	stem	comment
danken	dank	dank	following the basic rule
slijpen	slijp	slijp	following the basic rule
slapen	slap	slaap	the vowel is long
stappen	stapp	stap	the infinitive's double 'p' indicates that the 'a' is short

Exceptions Regular:
In Dutch, 'v' and 'z' only occur before a vowel: in alll other positions they with change to 'f' or 's,' respectively
Examples:

infinitive	remove -en	stem
blazen	blaz	blaas
lassen	lass	las
lezen	lez	lees
lessen	less	les
sloven	slov	sloof
sloffen	sloff	slof
durven	durv	durf

Exceptions Irregular:
doen, zien - stem: doe, zie
gaan, staan - stem: ga, sta
zijn, hebben(to be, to have) - very irregular verbs, see below
zullen (future tense auxiliary verb) - irregular, see below
mogen, kunnen (to be allowed to, to be able to) - very irregular verbs, see below

Present Tense

Simple Present Model
ik STEM jij STEM+t hij STEM+t wij INFINITIVE (STEM+en) jullie INFINITIVE (STEM+en) zij INFINITIVE (STEM+en) U STEM+t	(I ) (you [singular]) (he ) (we ) (you [plural]) (they ) (you [polite])

danken	to thank		stemmen	to vote or to tune
ik dank jij dankt hij dankt wij danken jullie danken zij danken U dankt hear	(I thank) (you thank) (he thanks) (we thank) (you thank) (they thank) (you thank)		ik stem jij stemt hij stemt wij stemmen jullie stemmen zij stemmen U stemt hear	(I vote) (you vote) (he votes) (we vote) (you vote) (they vote) (you vote)

Third person singular alternates zij ('she') and het or 't ('it') will take the same endings as hij ('he.')
hij - zij - het - 't hear
See also: Personal Pronouns

In question mode and in some sentence structures the verb will precede the personal pronoun; in those cases, for second person singular (je, jij) the 't' will be dropped. (Only in the present tense.)
dank jij? - stem jij? hear

If there's a consonant at the end of the stem, a preceding single vowel is short: then that consonant at the end is usually doubled for the -en in the plural.

Exceptions:
A few verbs are irregular, like zijn en hebben (see farther below.)
A few common Dutch verbs have a short vowel in the singular and a long vowel in the plural, either in the present or in the past tense, or in both. For instance: komen (see farther below.)

Dutch words will not end in double (two the same) consonants, so verb stems already ending in 't,' will not add an extra 't' to second and third person singular: zitten/zit: ik zit, jij zit, hij zit - (zitten in full).
Verb stems ending in 'd' will add that 't,' though: worden/word: ik word, jij wordt, hij wordt. (It's problematic for many Dutchmen too.) - (worden in full)

Past Tense

Like in English, many common verbs are strong, which means they have a vowel change for the past tense; like in the present tense, -en is added for the plural (and consonants may be doubled).
Weak verbs ending in t,k,f,s, ch or p (the mnemonic is: 't kofschip - hear) add -te to the stem for the simple past singular, -ten to the stem for the simple past plural.
Exception: -de(n) will be added to f or s from an infinitive that ended in -ven or -zen.
suizen/bruisen - suisde/bruiste hear
All other weak verbs add -de for the simple past singular, -den for the simple past plural.
In the past tense, there's no exception for the 'je/jij' question mode.

Simple Past Model
strong verbs	weak verbs
	"'t kofschip" type	other weak verbs
ik STRONG-PAST-STEM jij STRONG-PAST-STEM hij STRONG-PAST-STEM wij STRONG-PAST-STEM+en jullie STRONG-PAST-STEM+en zij STRONG-PAST-STEM+en U STRONG-PAST-STEM	ik STEM+te jij STEM+te hij STEM+te wij STEM+ten jullie STEM+ten zij STEM+ten U STEM+te	ik STEM+de jij STEM+de hij STEM+de wij STEM+den jullie STEM+den zij STEM+den U STEM+de	(I ) (you [singular]) (he ) (we ) (you [plural]) (they ) (you [polite])

Strong Verbs
vragen	to ask	rijden	to drive or to ride
ik vroeg jij vroeg hij vroeg wij vroegen jullie vroegen zij vroegen U vroeg hear	(I asked) (you asked) (he asked) (we asked) (you asked) (they asked) (you asked)	ik reed jij reed hij reed wij reden jullie reden zij reden U reed hear	(I drove) (you drove) (he drove) (we drove) (you drove) (they drove) (you drove)
vroeg jij?	(did you ask?)	reed jij?	(did you drive?)	hear

Weak Verbs
'kofschip' type		'non-kofschip' type
danken	to thank	stemmen	to vote
ik dankte jij dankte hij dankte wij dankten jullie dankten zij dankten U dankte hear	(I thanked) (you thanked) (he thanked) (we thanked) (you thanked) (they thanked) (you thanked)	ik stemde jij stemde hij stemde wij stemden jullie stemden zij stemden U stemde hear	(I voted) (you voted) (he voted) (we voted) (you voted) (they voted) (you voted)
dankte jij?	(did you thank?)	stemde jij?	(did you vote?)	hear

Two Examples, Various Exceptions (Recapitulation)

'Geven' (to give) shows the v/f shift, change between double and single vowels, and (in the past tense) different vowel lengths for singular and plural.

simple present		simple past
geven	to give	geven
ik geef jij geeft hij geeft wij geven jullie geven zij geven U geeft hear	(I give) (you give) (he gives) (we give) (you give) (they give) (you give)	ik gaf jij gaf hij gaf wij gaven jullie gaven zij gaven U gaf hear	(I gave) (you gave) (he gave) (we gave) (you gave) (they gave) (you gave)
geef jij?	(do you give?)	gaf jij?	(did you give?)	hear

'Komen' (to come) has different vowel lengths for singular and plural in both the present and in the past tense.

ik kom
jij komt
hij komt
wij komen
jullie komen
zij komen
U komt
hear

(I come)
(you come)
(he comes)
(we come)
(you come)
(they come)
(you come)

ik kwam
jij kwam
hij kwam
wij kwamen
jullie kwamen
zij kwamen
U kwam
hear

(I came)
(you came)
(he came)
(we came)
(you came)
(they came)
(you came)

Hebben (to have) en Zijn (to be)

present tense
hebben	to have	zijn	to be
ik heb jij hebt hij heeft wij hebben jullie hebben zij hebben U heeft hear	I have you have he has we have you have they have you have	ik ben jij bent hij is wij zijn jullie zijn zij zijn U bent hear	I am you are he is we are you are they are you are
'U hebt' is also said.
past tense
ik had jij had hij had wij hadden jullie hadden zij hadden U had hear	I had you had he had we had you had they had you had	ik was jij was hij was wij waren jullie waren zij waren U was hear	I was you were he was we were you were they were you were

The Perfect Tense

In English, the perfect tense is formed by using 'to have' with a past participle (I have been.) Dutch uses either hebben ('to have') or zijn ('to be.') There are hardly any useful rules for when to use which auxiliary, the student of Dutch will have to memorize for each verb if it takes hebben or zijn.
Most verbs of motion take 'zijn' when a destination is mentioned, 'hebben' when it's about the motion itself:
Ik ben naar Amsterdam gefietst - Ik heb een uur gefietst. I biked to Amsterdam - I biked for an hour.
Ik heb een uur gefietst - hear - 2 - (I rode a bike for an hour)
Ik ben naar Veenendaal gefietst - hear - 2 - (I rode a bike to Veenendaal)
(Notice also that Dutch and English perfect tense are not used exactly in the same manner.)

The past participle is usually formed by prefixing the verb stem with ge-, and adding an ending:

-t for stems of weak verbs ending in t, k ,f, s, ch or p ('t kofschip)
-d for stems of weak verbs ending in other letters
-en for strong verbs. The strong verb stem may have the same vowel as in the simple past or in simple present, or it may be a different vowel.
There are many exceptions, like strong verbs that take -d or -t and/or have an additional change.

English	Dutch infinitive	simple past	perfect tense
to have	hebben	ik had	ik heb gehad	hear
to be	zijn	ik was/wij waren	ik ben geweest	hear
to know	kennen	ik kende	ik heb gekend	hear
to know	weten	ik wist	ik heb geweten	hear
to thank	danken	ik dankte	ik heb gedankt	hear
to vote	stemmen	ik stemde	ik heb gestemd	hear
to ask	vragen	ik vroeg	ik heb gevraagd	hear
to drive, to ride	rijden	ik reed	ik heb/ben gereden	hear
to give	geven	ik gaf/wij gaven	ik heb gegeven	hear
to come	komen	ik kwam/wij kwamen	ik ben gekomen	hear
to walk	lopen	ik liep	ik heb/ben gelopen	hear
to go	gaan	ik ging	ik ben gegaan	hear
to get	halen	ik haalde	ik heb gehaald	hear
to pray	bidden	ik bad/wij baden	ik heb gebeden	hear

to take	nemen	ik nam/wij namen	ik heb genomen	hear
to bring	brengen	ik bracht	ik heb gebracht	hear
to think	denken	ik dacht	ik heb gedacht	hear
to eat	eten	ik at/wij aten	ik heb gegeten	hear
to honor	eren	ik eerde	ik heb geëerd *	hear

More Exceptions

Verbs that already feature a so-called 'inseparable prefix' (be-, er-, ge-, her-, ont- and ver-) will not add ge- for their past participle, there will only be the past participle ending.

to promise	beloven	ik beloofde	ik heb beloofd	hear
to pay	betalen	ik betaalde	ik heb betaald	hear
to acknowledge	erkennen	ik erkende	ik heb erkend	hear
to believe	geloven	ik geloofde	ik heb geloofd	hear
to repeat	herhalen	ik herhaalde	ik heb herhaald	hear
to discover	ontdekken	ik ontdekte	ik heb ontdekt	hear
to forget	vergeten	ik vergat	ik ben vergeten	hear

Some verbs form compound words with other prepositions; those verbs often (but not always) split up in the simple tenses. In the past participle of these splitting compound verbs, the ge- is usually inserted between the preposition and the basic verb.
Unfortunately, sometimes these prepositions do not split from the verb, and then no ge- is inserted for the past participle.

English	Dutch infinitive	simple present	simple past	perfect tense
to leave behind	achterlaten	ik laat achter	ik liet achter	ik heb achtergelaten	hear
to retrieve, find out	achterhalen	ik achterhaal	ik achterhaalde	ik heb achterhaald	hear
~to pursue	achtervolgen	ik achtervolg	ik achtervolgde	ik heb achtervolgd	hear
to collect, pick up	afhalen	(ik haal af)	ik haalde af	ik heb afgehaald	hear
to await, wait for	afwachten	(ik wacht af)	ik wachtte af	ik heb afgewacht	hear
to take along	meenemen	ik neem mee	ik nam mee	ik heb meegenomen	hear
to go into hiding	onderduiken	ik duik onder	ik dook onder	ik ben ondergedoken	hear
to maintain	onderhouden	(ik onderhoud)	ik onderhield	ik heb onderhouden	hear
to persuade	overhalen	ik haal over	ik haalde over	ik heb overgehaald	hear
to convince	overtuigen	ik overtuig	ik overtuigde	ik heb overtuigd	hear
to advance (money)	voorschieten	(ik schiet voor)	ik schoot voor	ik heb voorgeschoten	hear
to show, demonstrate	voordoen	ik doe voor	ik deed voor	ik heb voorgedaan	hear

Notice that most of the English verbs in this list are of French and Latin origin, while Dutch uses basic (Germanic) verbs with (Germanic) prepositions.

The Future Tense

The future tense uses the auxiliary verb 'zullen' with a verb inifinive:
Ik zal komen - (I will come.)

Conditional Tense ('Future Past')
ik zal jij zult hij zal wij zullen jullie zullen zij zullen U zult hear	(I will/shall) (you will) (he will) (we will/shall) (you will) (they will) (you will)	zal ik? zul jij? zal hij? zullen wij? zullen jullie? zullen zij? zult U? hear	(will/shall I?) (will you?) (will he?) (will/shall we?) (will you?) (will they?) (will you?)
'Jij zal' and 'zal jij?' is also correct.

ik zou jij zou hij zou wij zouden jullie zouden zij zouden U zou hear	(I would) (you would) (he would) (we would) (you would) (they would) (you would)

Verbs of motion, especially 'gaan' (to go) can also be used as an informal future tense:
ik ga naar huis -hear- I'm going home
hij gaat naar Rotterdam -hear - 2- he's going to Rotterdam
morgen gaat hij naar Den Haag -hear - 2- he'll go to The Hague tomorrow
Als de dagen lengen, gaan de nachten strengen -hear- As the days get longer, the nights will get more severe (i.e. colder)
morgen gaan we lijnen -hear- tomorrow we'll start dieting
hij vertrekt morgen naar Afrika -hear- he'll leave for Africa tomorrow

The Passive Form

In the passive form, the object is passively subjected to an activity: The book is read. or The house was built. In Dutch, the passive form uses the auxiliary verb 'worden' with the past participle of the relevant verb.
ik word geschopt door Jan -hear- - I am kicked by John
A fairly common expression is: "Ik word geleefd." -hear- [I am lived] ~ I have no life of my own.
English uses 'to be' for the passive form. Confusion may arise because Dutch sometimes uses 'zijn' (to be) as an auxiliary for the perfect tense.

ik word jij wordt hij wordt wij worden jullie worden zij worden U wordt hear	(I am) (you are) (he is) (we are) (you are) (they are) (you are)		word ik? word jij? wordt hij? worden wij? worden jullie? worden zij? wordt U? hear	(am I?) (are you?) (is he?) (are we?) (are you?) (are they?) (are you?)
ik werd jij werd hij werd wij werden jullie werden zij werden U werd hear	(I was) (you were) (he was) (we were) (you were) (they were) (you were)

The perfect tense of 'worden' uses 'zijn' (to be) - and the 'geworden' is usually dropped.
ik ben geschopt -hear- I have been kicked
Note the different use of 'is' in English and Dutch in the following sentences:
he is stung by a wasp -hear- hij wordt door een wesp gestoken!
he has been stung by a wasp -hear- hij is door een wesp gestoken

'Worden' is also used in the sense of 'to become:'
"Wat wil je later worden?" -hear- What are you going to be when you grow up?
Wat is er van hem geworden? -hear - 2- Whatever became of him?
't Wordt donker -hear- It is getting dark

Verbs as Nouns and Adjectives

The infinitive of verbs can be used as a noun, taking 'het' as its article.

Het eten van varkensvlees is verboden	- hear -		Eating pork is not allowed.
Het drinken van alcohol is toegestaan	- hear -		Drinking alcohol is allowed.

Putting a '-d(e)' ending to the verb stem will make it into an adjective of the ongoing action of the verb; the past participle can be used as an adjective of when the verb's action is finished. ('e' in endings.)

het schip zinkt	- hear -	the ship is sinking
het zinkende schip	- hear -	the sinking ship
het schip is gezonken	- hear -	the ship has sunk
het gezonken schip	- hear -	the sunken ship
het zinken van het schip	- hear -	the sinking of the ship (in Dutch, it does NOT mean 'making the ship go down')

de aardappels koken	- hear -	the potatoes are [boiling] cooking
de kokende aardappels	- hear -	the boiling potatoes
de aardappels zijn gekookt	- hear -	the potatoes have been [boiled] cooked
de gekookte aardappels	- hear -	the [boiled] cooked potatoes

het naderend onheil	- hear -	the approaching disaster
het gesproken boek	- hear -	the [spoken] audio book
een sprekend voorbeeld	- hear -	a telling example
de zangeres lacht	- hear -	the lady singer laughs
de lachende zangeres	- hear -	the laughing singer

Only in a few expressions (that are already becoming obsolete) the stem + de adjective is found with zijn (to be):

hij was druk doende	- hear -		he was busy [doing]
wat is er gaande?	- hear - 2 -		What's going on?

The Continuous

Dutch does not have a Continuous like English (you are reading, I am waiting), but a similar meaning can be conveyed using appropriate verbs like 'zitten' (to sit, to be seated), 'liggen' (to lie), 'staan' (to stand, to be standing) or 'lopen' (to walk).

I'm thinking of a present	-	Ik zit te denken aan een cadeau - hear
I was thinking of ...	-	Ik zat te denken aan ... - hear
I was waiting for a phone call	-	Ik zat te wachten op een telefoontje - hear
I was waiting for ...	-	Ik zat te wachten op ... - hear
They were sleeping	-	Ze lagen te slapen - hear
He was talking to Pete	-	Hij stond te praten met Piet - hear
He was talking to ...	-	Hij stond te praten met ... - hear
He is swearing, cursing out	-	Hij loopt te schelden - hear

to sit, to be sitting	zitten	ik zit	wij zitten	ik zat	wij zaten	ik heb gezeten	hear - 2
to lie (like, in bed)	liggen	ik lig	wij liggen	ik lag	wij lagen	ik heb gelegen	hear
to stand, to be standing	staan	ik sta	wij staan	ik stond	wij stonden	ik heb gestaan	hear - 2
to walk	lopen	ik loop	wij lopen	ik liep	wij liepen	ik ben/heb gelopen	hear - 2 - more

Occasionally, you may find aan het + verb infinitive:

ik ben aan 't koken

- hear

I am cooking (preparing food) (Dutch koken means both 'to boil' and 'to cook, prepare food.')

For Intermediate and Advanced Students

mogen	(to be allowed to - 'may')	kunnen	(to be able to - 'can')
ik mag jij mag hij mag wij mogen jullie mogen zij mogen U mag hear	(I 'may') (you 'may') (he 'may') (we 'may') (you 'may') (they 'may') (you 'may')	ik kan jij kunt hij kan wij kunnen jullie kunnen zij kunnen U kunt hear	(I 'can') (you 'can') (he 'can') (we 'can') (you 'can') (they 'can') (you 'can')
'Jij kan' en 'U kan' is also correct.
mag jij?	(are you allowed to?)	kun jij?	(are you able to?)	hear
ik mocht jij mocht hij mocht wij mochten jullie mochten zij mochten U mocht hear	(I was allowed) (you were allowed) (he was allowed) (we were allowed) (you were allowed) (they were allowed) (you were allowed)	ik kon jij kon hij kon wij konden jullie konden zij konden U kon hear	(I 'could') (you 'could') (he 'could') (we 'could') (you 'could') (they 'could') (you 'could')

If the verb stem ends in a voiceless 'e,' which we sometimes find in longer words, that voiceless 'e' is not going to change into a long 'e.'

English	Dutch infinitive	simple present singular	simple present plural	simple past singular	simple past plural	perfect tense
to shop	winkelen	ik winkel	wij winkelen	ik winkelde	wij winkelden	ik heb gewinkeld	hear
to walk, to hike	wandelen	ik wandel	wij wandelen	ik wandelde	wij wandelden	ik heb/ben gewandeld	hear
Compare:
to split; to share	delen	ik deel	wij delen	ik deelde	wij deelden	ik heb gedeeld	hear

The English verbs 'to lie' and 'to lay' are confusing to some people; in Dutch there is a similar problem:

to lie (like, in bed)	liggen	ik lig	wij liggen	ik lag	wij lagen	ik heb gelegen	- hear
to lay (like, to put)	leggen	ik leg	wij leggen	ik legde	wij legden	ik heb gelegd	- hear -	2
to lie (to say what's not)	liegen	ik lieg	wij liegen	ik loog	wij logen	ik heb gelogen	- hear

Verb infinitives can be used as nouns, taking 'het.'

Marco Schuffelen - email
copyright © 1999-2006 Marco Schuffelen - All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Don't be a dief (thief) - dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) - hear Dutch - 2

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