Dutch grammar

A0 Starter Lessons: 22

Referring to people and things

• Personal pronounsSeveral Dutch pronouns have a full and a short form: jij/je, zij/ze, wij/we.
• je or uDutch has two words for "you".
• de or hetDutch has two words for "the": de and het.
• the article eenWhere "the" has two forms, "a" has only one: een.
• deze, dit, die, datDutch points with four words.
• Possessivesmijn, jouw/je, uw, zijn, haar, ons/onze, jullie, hun.

Verbs and time

• The verb zijn (to be)zijn is irregular, so the forms are learned rather than derived: ik ben, jij/u bent, hij/zij/het is, wij/jullie/zij…
• The verb hebben (to have)ik heb, jij hebt, u hebt or u heeft, hij/zij/het heeft, wij/jullie/zij hebben.
• The present tenseTake the full verb (werken) and remove -en.
• gaan, staan, doen, zienThese four verbs look irregular but follow the same rule as werken — their stem is simply short: ga, sta, doe, zie.
• kunnen, moeten, willen, mogenThese four say what is possible, necessary, wanted or allowed.
• Separable verbsSome verbs come in two pieces: opstaan, meegaan, invullen, opbellen, afzeggen.

Nouns and describing

• The pluralMost nouns add -en: boek becomes boeken, vraag becomes vragen.
• AdjectivesWhen the adjective comes AFTER the noun with zijn between them, nothing changes: Het huis is groot.

Place and direction

• PrepositionsSmall words that say where something is or where it is going: in, op, naar, bij, met, van, voor, uit, aan, over.

Saying no

• niet or geenUse geen when you negate a noun that had een or no article at all: Ik heb een auto becomes Ik heb geen auto; Ik eet…

Asking questions

• Yes/no questionsTo ask a question whose answer is yes or no, put the verb first and the subject after it.
• Question wordswie (which person), wat (which thing), waar (which place), wanneer (which moment), hoe (in which way), waarom (for…

Building the sentence

• The main clauseIn an ordinary Dutch statement the verb sits in SECOND position.
• InversionThis is not a new rule — it is the same rule.

Joining sentences

• en, maar, want, ofThese four glue two sentences together: en (addition), maar (contrast), want (reason), of (choice).
• Time expressionsvandaag, morgen, gisteren, nu, straks, altijd, vaak, soms, nooit.

A1 Beginner Lessons: 16

Referring to people and things

• mij, jou, hem, haar, ons, henBeside ik, jij, hij and zij, Dutch has a second row: the form you use when the person is not the subject.

Verbs and time

• The perfect tense with hebbenTo say what you have done you use two verbs: hebben in second position and the past participle at the end.
• The perfect tense with zijnNot every verb takes hebben.
• Irregular past participlesMany everyday verbs do not make the participle with -t or -d but with -en, and often with a different vowel.
• was, waren, had, haddenFor zijn and hebben, Dutch usually does not use the perfect but the simple past.
• Talking about later: gaan and zullenDutch does not need a separate future tense.
• Verbs with me, je, zichSome Dutch verbs always carry an extra little word: zich voelen, zich wassen, zich aankleden, zich haasten, zich…
• mogen, hoeven and zou graagA0 gave you kunnen, moeten and willen.
• The imperativeYou give an instruction with the stem of the verb and no subject: Kom binnen.

Nouns and describing

• groter, het grootstIn Dutch you compare with an ending, not with an extra word.
• The diminutive: -jeDutch very often puts -je after a noun: een kopje koffie, een momentje, een broodje, een kaartje.
• The -e on the adjectiveWhen an adjective stands before a noun it nearly always takes an -e: de grote kamer, het grote huis, een grote kamer…

Building the sentence

• Time, manner, placeWhen more than one piece of information follows the verb, Dutch has a fixed order: first time, then manner, then place.
• er is, er zijnTo say that something exists or is present somewhere, Dutch starts with er.

Joining sentences

• omdat, dat, als: the verb goes to the endWords like omdat, dat, als, of and toen begin a subordinate clause, and in a subordinate clause the verb goes to the…
• om ... te: why you do somethingTo say what you do something for, you use om ...

A2 Elementary Lessons: 20

Referring to people and things

• Er: existence, amounts and prepositionsEr does three things in Dutch.
• Iemand, niemand, iets, niets, elk and alleFor people you use iemand and niemand, for things iets and niets.

Verbs and time

• The simple past of weak verbsBesides the perfect, Dutch has a simple past.
• The simple past of strong verbsStrong verbs take no -te or -de but change their vowel: gaan becomes ging, komen becomes kwam, zien becomes zag, nemen…
• Perfect or simple past?Dutch uses the two tenses differently from what you may expect.
• Modal verbs in the pastThe six modal verbs have their own past form: kunnen becomes kon and konden, moeten becomes moest and moesten, mogen…
• Separable verbs in every tenseMany Dutch verbs come in two parts: opbellen, meenemen, invullen, opstaan, aankomen.
• Verbs that take teMany verbs take a second verb with te: proberen te, beginnen te, vergeten te, hopen te, beloven te, hoeven te.
• Zou and zouden: polite requests and suggestionsWith zou and zouden you ask for something without demanding it: "Zou u mij kunnen helpen?" is friendlier than "Kunt u…

Nouns and describing

• Comparing: bigger, biggest, just as bigFor a comparison you add -er to the adjective and then use dan: "Deze woning is groter dan de vorige." For the top…
• With or without -e on the adjectiveBefore a noun an adjective almost always takes -e: de grote tafel, het grote huis, grote tafels.
• Plurals and diminutivesThe plural is usually -en: brief becomes brieven, dag becomes dagen.

Place and direction

• Verbs with a fixed prepositionSome verbs belong to one fixed preposition, and that preposition cannot be guessed from your own language.

Saying no

• Niet or geen, and where it goesYou use geen before a noun with no article or with een: "Ik heb geen tijd", "Dat is geen probleem".

Asking questions

• A question inside a sentence: of and question wordsTo ask politely or to report a question, you put the question in a subordinate clause.

Building the sentence

• Time, manner, place in one sentenceIf one sentence holds a time, a manner and a place, the Dutch order is almost always time — manner — place: "Ik ga…

Joining sentences

• Toen, als or wanneer?All three have to do with time, but they do not go in the same place.
• Omdat, want, dus and daaromAll four give a reason or a result, but they do different things to the word order.
• Voordat, nadat and terwijlThese three say when something happened relative to something else.
• Relative clauses with die and datWith die and dat you hang a whole clause behind a noun: "de man die naast mij woont", "het formulier dat ik gisteren…

B1 Intermediate Lessons: 20

Referring to people and things

• u or je: choose and keep it upYou choose u or je from the relationship, not the topic.
• Four kinds of erEr does four jobs. Place: Ik ben er al geweest (= there).
• waarmee, waarover, waarvan: referring back to thingsFor people you say met wie, over wie.

Verbs and time

• The passive with wordenIn a passive sentence what matters is WHAT happens, not who does it.
• The passive with zijn: the resultWith worden you say something IS HAPPENING; with zijn that it is FINISHED.
• Naming the doer: door in the passiveSometimes you do need to say who does something.
• zou: asking politely, saying it carefullyZou softens a question and hedges an opinion.
• moeten, kunnen and mogen in the pastFor something you had to or could do in the past there are two routes.

Nouns and describing

• Comparing more preciselyBesides groter dan and het grootst, B1 needs a few forms for finer differences.

Place and direction

• Verbs with a fixed prepositionSome verbs come with a preposition that always belongs to them, and there is no rule: you learn them one by one.

Saying no

• What exactly you are negatingWhere niet stands decides what you negate.

Asking questions

• Asking politely with a question wordAt a counter or on the phone a direct question can sound abrupt.

Building the sentence

• om te: what you do something forOm te + infinitive says why or what for.
• Reporting what someone said: dat and ofYou do not have to repeat someone word for word.
• Separable verbs in a subordinate clauseIn a main clause the prefix drops to the end: Ik lever het formulier morgen in.
• Time, manner, place in longer sentencesYou already know time – manner – place.

Joining sentences

• hoewel: conceding and going on anywayWith hoewel you concede something and the other thing happens anyway.
• zodat: with what resultZodat tells the result or the purpose: Ik stuur de stukken vandaag, zodat u ze morgen heeft.
• nadat and voordat: before and afterVoordat says what happens earlier, nadat what has happened earlier.
• als … dan: real and unreal conditionsWith als you state the condition under which something holds.

B2 Upper intermediate Lessons: 20

Referring to people and things

• Hiermee, daarvan, waarbij: reference with prepositionsYou do not refer to a thing with preposition + het, but with er/daar/hier/waar fused to the preposition: not met het…
• Relative clauses: die, dat, wat and wieThe clause that colours a noun opens with die (de-words and plurals) or dat (het-words): het rapport dat u vroeg.
• Official register: dient, gelieve, menThe institutional letter has verbs of its own.

Verbs and time

• The passive perfect: what has and had been doneWordt says what is happening now; is + past participle says what has already been done: uw aanvraag is behandeld.
• Zou at a distance: someone else’s claimWith zou you pass a claim on without signing for it yourself: de dader zou gevlucht zijn — somebody says so, you do not…
• The unreal condition: if it had gone differentlyFor what is not so, or did not go that way, you step the tense back once.
• Participles as modifiers: the requirements setFormal Dutch folds a whole clause into one word before the noun.
• The double infinitive: should have reportedPut a modal verb or laten into the perfect and you get not a participle but two infinitives at the end: ik had het…

Nouns and describing

• Nominal style: the completing of the formFormal texts turn verbs into nouns: het invullen van het formulier, bij het opstellen van het plan, na ontvangst van uw…

Place and direction

• Fixed prepositions: leiden tot, beschikken overFor hundreds of verbs, adjectives and nouns the preposition is fixed: leiden tot, beschikken over, voldoen aan…

Saying no

• Nuanced negation: nauwelijks, niet langer, geenszinsB2 negation comes in grades.

Asking questions

• Embedded of-questions: the question whether it is rightA yes-no question living inside another sentence opens with of and sends its verb to the end: het is de vraag of dit…

Building the sentence

• The midfield: the order between the verbsBetween the finite verb and the verbs at the end runs a fixed route.
• Fronting: emphasis at the head of the sentenceThe first slot of the sentence is the spotlight.

Joining sentences

• Cause and reason: aangezien, doordat, vanwegeOmdat gives a reason, doordat a cause nobody chose: doordat de lift kapot was, the stretcher was late.
• Formal contrast: echter, daarentegen, desondanksMaar opens a contrast in speech; on paper echter carries the same: de aanvraag is echter te laat ingediend.
• Purpose or result: opdat, zodat, waardoorZodat can carry two things: an intention and a result.
• Conditions: tenzij, mits, indien, voor zoverIndien is the formal als of the letter: indien u niet reageert, the reservation lapses.
• Reported speech in the past: he said he would…When you report what someone said earlier, the tenses shift back: "ik kom morgen" becomes hij zei dat hij de volgende…
• Discourse adverbs: immers, bovendien, overigens, althansThese words say nothing about the world and everything about the text.