Dutch Verbs
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To conjugate a Dutch verb we have to look at the infinitive which can be found in the dictionary.
As first examples I will use: kennen (to know), halen (to fetch), wandelen (to walk), wachten (to wait).
Almost all infinitives end in the letters -en.
To conjugate the verb we need to find the stem:
- First drop the final -en.
- If the remaining form ends in two identical consonants, drop one of these consonants: 'kennen' has 'ken' as stem.
- If the remaining form ends in a single consonant and the preceding vowel is single and not mute, double the vowel: 'halen' has 'haal' as stem.
- In all other cases the stem is equal to the infinitive without -en: 'wandelen' has 'wandel' as stem (mute e), 'wachten' has 'wacht' as stem (non-identical consonants).
- And finally if this form ends on -v change this v into f, if it ends on -z change this z into s: 'durven' (to dare) has 'durf' as stem, 'niezen' (to sneeze) has 'nies' as stem.
The separable verbs form a special category and are treated in a separate article.
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Present Tense
Most Dutch verbs have only 3 forms in the present tense:
- the stem
- the stem + t
- the infinitive-form
In the plural we always use the infinitive-form:
- wij kennen, jullie wandelen, zij wachten, halen wij.
In the first person singular 'ik' we always use the stem:
- ik ken, ik wandel, wacht ik, haal ik
In the third person singular, or in the second person singular with 'u' or 'gij' we always use stem + t:
- hij kent, zij wandelt, gij wacht, u haalt
(but when the stem already ends in -t we don't add a second t: so the stem + t form of 'wacht' is still 'wacht')
In the second person singular with 'jij' we use the stem + t if 'jij' stands in front of the verb and the pure stem if 'jij' is behind the verb:
- jij kent, ken jij
- jij wandelt, wandel jij
- jij wacht, wacht jij
- jij haalt, haal jij
There are of course a few special cases:
- Verb with a stem that ends in a single d, lose this d when the stem is used without t:
- houden (to hold): ik hou, hou jij, but hij houdt, houdt u
- Verbs with an infinitive in -aan: gaan (to go), slaan (to hit) and staan (to stand), have a stem form with a single a:
- ik ga, sta jij, ik sla but hij staat, zij slaat, gaat u
Past Tense
In Dutch (as in English) there are a lot of irregular verbs in the past tense, and to know them you will have to memorise them. But in this article we will concentrate on the regular past tenses.
The regular past tenses can be divided into two groups depending on the final letter of the infinitive without -en:
- the hard consonants are t, x, k, f, s, ch, p (these can be remembered by the non-existant word 't ex-kofschip')
- all the other consonants and all vowels are soft (but very few verbs have an infinitive with a vowel before -en)
When a verb has a hard consonant we add -te in the singular and -ten in the plural,
when it has a soft consonant or vowel we add -de in the singular and -den in the plural.
- ik kende, jij haalde, gij wandelde, u kende, hij haalde, zij wandelde, het kende
- wij haalden, jullie kenden, zij wandelden
- ik wachtte, jij wachtte, gij wachtte, u wachtte, hij wachtte, zij wachtte, hij wachtte
- wij wachtten, jullie wachtten, zij wachtten
But note: ik niesde, ik durfde (and not ik *nieste or ik *durfte!) because to find the soft or hard consonant we look at the infinitive and not at the stem (niez-en, durv-en).
Future Tense
This tense is formed with the auxiliary verbs 'gaan' (to go) and 'zullen' (shall/will). The conjugation of 'zullen' is irregular (see the link Irregular Present Tenses above).
The Near Future is formed by 'gaan + infinitive', the Distant future by 'zullen + infinitive'.
- ik ga eten = I shall eat (immediately or very soon)
- ik zal eten = I shall eat (maybe this evening, tomorrow, ...)
A peculiarity of the Dutch language is that tenses with an auxiliary verb are separated whenever there is another part in such sentences:
- ik ga een ijsje eten = I shall eat ice-cream
- ik zal vanavond soep eten = I shall eat soup this evening
Perfect Tenses
There are 3 perfect tenses: Present Perfect, Past Perfect and Future Perfect. Each is formed by using the auxiliary 'hebben' (to have) or 'zijn' (to be) and the Past Participle.
The formation of the Past Particple has as many irregularities as the Past Tense, but let's have a look at the regular Past Participles:
- When the Past Tense is formed by adding -de/-den then the Past Participle is formed by 'ge + stem + d', when the stem ends in -d no extra d is added:
- kennen - kende - gekend
- halen - haalde - gehaald
- wandelen - wandelde - gewandeld
- antwoorden - antwoordde - geantwoord
- niezen - niesde - geniesd
- durven - durfde - gedurfd
- When the Past Tense is formed by adding -te/-ten then the Past Participle is formed by 'ge + stem + t', when the stem ends in -t no extra t is added:
- wachten - wachtte - gewacht
- kussen - kuste - gekust (to kiss)
When you know the Past Participle you still have to know which auxiliary to use. Most of the time we use 'hebben'.
The following regular verbs use 'zijn' as auxiliary:
- groeien (to grow), stikken (to suffocate), vluchten (to flee), gebeuren (to happen), slagen (to succeed, to pass), ...
So we find:
- Present Perfect: ik heb geantwoord, wij zijn gegroeid
- Past Perfect: hij had geniesd, u was gevlucht
- Future Perfect: zij zullen gewacht hebben, ik zal geslaagd zijn
And just as in the Future Tense the other parts of the sentence have to be put in between the auxiliary and the Past Participle:
- hij heeft een uur op zijn moeder gewacht = he has waited an hour for his mother
- zij zullen voor alle examens geslaagd zijn = they will have passed all exams
