These persons are shown in the table below.

voelen (to feel) - simple present
singular
ik voel	I feel
je voelt jij voelt u voelt	you feel you feel you feel
hij voelt ze voelt zij voelt het voelt	he feels she feels she feels it feels
plural
we voelen wij voelen	we feel we feel
jullie voelen u voelt	you feel you feel
ze voelen zij voelen	they feel they feel

Examples:
Zij voelt de grip van het stuur. - She feels the grip of the steering wheel.
Jullie voelen de warmte. - You feel the warmth.

We just talked about a regular verb, which means it behaves predictable. The verb in the next example is also regular.

Examples:
Zij bedoelt de grip van het stuur. - She means the grip of the steering wheel.
Jullie bedoelen de warmte. - You mean the warmth.

Zijn (to be) is an irregular verb. It is not an example on how to make verbs, but the verb is important enough to show here.

zijn (to be) - simple present
singular		plural
ik ben	I am	we zijn	we are
je bent	you are	jullie zijn	you are
hij is	he is	ze zijn	they are

Information about “ben je” is left out, because it can be concluded from what is shown.

Examples:
Ik ben hier - I am here.
Ben je hier? - Are you here?
Je bent hier. - You are here.
De tafel is groen. - The table is green.

The verb hebben (to have) is an irregular verb. It is not an example on how to make verbs, but the verb is important enough to show here anyway.

hebben (to have) - simple present
singular		plural
ik heb	I have	we hebben	we have
je hebt	you have	jullie hebben	you have
hij heeft	he has	ze hebben	they have

Examples:
Ik heb groene laarzen. - I have green boots.
Heeft hij een rijbewijs? - Does he have a driving license?

Strong verbs look like weak verbs in the present tense. There is no visible difference here.
Hij zingt. - He sings.
Zing jij? - Do you sing?
Je zingt. - You sing.

Simple Past

Use the past tense of a verb to talk about the past. Many novels are written in the past tense, but children’s books are often written in the present tense. In conversation, the simple past is used less often than the present perfect.

In the next sentence, te is added to wacht to make the simple past.

Ik wachtte. Het werd donker. - I waited. It got dark.

In the present tense this would be:

Ik wacht. Het wordt donker. - I’m waiting. It is getting dark.

The table of wachten is shown right here. Look at the syllables that are added to wacht. These syllables are te and ten.

wachten (to wait) - simple past
singular		plural
ik wachtte	I waited	we wachtten	we waited
je wachtte	you waited	jullie wachtten	you waited
hij wachtte	he waited	ze wachtten	they waited

Let’s look at the past tense of the verb voelen (to feel). This is a regular verb too. We make the stem voel by removing en. We add de or den to the stem voel. The table is shown here.

voelen (to feel) - simple past
singular		plural
ik voelde	I felt	we voelden	we felt
je voelde	you felt	jullie voelden	you felt
hij voelde	he felt	ze voelden	they felt

hebben is an irregular verb. We get in the past tense:

hebben (to have) - simple past
singular		plural
ik had	I had	we hadden	we had
je had	you had	jullie hadden	you had
hij had	he had	ze hadden	they had

zijn is an irregular verb. In the past tense, it looks a little like the English verb to be.

zijn (to be) - simple past
singular		plural
ik was	I was	we waren	we were
je was	you was	jullie waren	you were
hij was	he was	ze waren	they were

The verb zingen (to sing) is strong. It has a regular strong pattern. In the plural en is added to zong, not to zing. In the singular nothing is added.

zingen (to sing) - simple past
singular		plural
ik zong	I sang	we zongen	we sang
je zong	you sang	jullie zongen	you sang
hij zong	he sang	ze zongen	they sang

Present Perfect

The present perfect is important in Dutch. The English simple past is very often translated to the Dutch present perfect. In other words: The Dutch people use the present perfect very often.

The verb to have means to have, but not always. The verb can be used quite differently. It can be used as an auxiliary verb. Auxiliary verbs are only there to help the verb they must help. In this example wachten is accompanied by the word heb (have) from the verb hebben (to have).

Examples:
wachten - to wait
Ik heb gewacht. - I have waited.
Ik heb een kwartier gewacht. - I have waited for a quarter of an hour.
Ik heb op de bus gewacht. - I have waited for the bus.
Ik heb een kwartier op de bus gewacht. - I have waited for the bus for a quarter of an hour.

Notice that the word heb in “Ik heb gewacht” does not mean at all that I possess (have) something. This is also true in English.

Let’s compare the new tense (the present perfect) with the other tenses we talked about earlier.

present
Ik wacht. Kom naar buiten. - I’m waiting. Come outside.
past
Ik wachtte. Ondertussen werd het donker. - I waited. In the meantime it got dark.
present perfect
Ik heb gewacht, maar je kwam niet. Ik ben toen naar huis gegaan. - I have waited, but you didn’t come. Then I went home.
Jij hebt gewacht, maar ik ook. - You have waited, but I did too.
Heb jij ook gewacht? Waar? - Have you waited too? Where?

The table of wachten in the present perfect is shown below. It is based on the table of the simple present of hebben. The only difference is, that the word gewacht (waited) is added everywhere. Every verb has just one past participle, and the past participle of wachten is gewacht.

wachten (to wait) - present perfect
singular		plural
ik heb gewacht	I have waited	we hebben gewacht	we have waited
je hebt gewacht	you have waited	jullie hebben gewacht	you have waited
hij heeft gewacht	he has waited	ze hebben gewacht	they have waited

Note: ze (she) and het (it) are done exactly like hij (he).

Imperative

The imperative is used to give an order. Sometimes it looks like a question, because the sentence starts with a verb. You can see that is not true, because there is no question mark in imperative sentences.

The imperative is written as if the word ik (I), precedes the verb. But the subject (when not mentioned) is always you.
Ga naar binnen. - Go inside.
Blijf binnen. - Stay inside.
Ga naar huis. Ik ga ook naar huis - Go home. I will go home too.

These examples can be made more polite by adding a softening word like maar, a word that normally means but.
Ga maar naar binnen. - I suggest you go inside.
Blijf maar binnen. - I suggest you stay inside.
Ga maar naar huis. Ik ga ook naar huis - I suggest you to go home. I will go home too.

But when time is short, short sentences are polite enough.
Kijk, een wespennest. - Look, a wasps’ nest.
Loop door. Kijk uit. - Walk on. Watch out.
Pas op. - Be alert. (Watch out.)
Struikel niet over die steen. - Don’t stumble over that brick.

You can add alsjeblieft (please) if you like (or alstublieft, which is a formal word).
Ga mee, alsjeblieft. - Come with me, please.
Ga mee, alstublieft. - Come with me, please.

Most of the time questions are better than imperative remarks. These four questions are alternatives to the imperative.
Wil je met me meegaan, alsjeblieft? - Do you want to come with me, please?
Wilt u de deur dicht doen? - Do you want to close the door?
Zou je met me mee willen gaan, alsjeblieft? - Would you come with me, please?
Zou u met me mee willen gaan, alstublieft? - Would you come with me, please?

The formal way to use the imperative is shown below. The subject is u (you, formal). These sentences look like questions very much, but they are not.
Gaat u zitten, mevrouw. - Sit down, madam.
Gaat u zitten, alstublieft. - Sit down, please.

The next sentence is in the imperative. The sentence after that is a question. They look alike very much. The pitch of the speaker’s voice or a question mark shows the difference.
Gaat u zitten, meneer. Ik kom zo terug. - (Please) sit down, sir. I’ll be back in a moment.
Gaat u zitten, meneer? Waarom? - Are you sitting down, sir? Why?

In the following sentences maar is used to soften the tone of the order that is given. It shows some indifference in a small or large degree.
Gaat u maar zitten, mevrouw. - (I suggest you) sit down, madam.
Ga maar naar binnen. - (I suggest you) go inside.
Neem maar een andere pen. - (I suggest you) take another pen.
Kom maar wanneer u dat het beste uitkomt. - Just come when it suits you best.

The infinitive of a verb is the verb as you can find it in the dictionary. You can use it as an imperative. This can be useful sometimes.
Doorlopen. We staan in de weg. - Walk on. We are in the way.
Lopen. - Walk.
Rennen. - Run.
Uitkijken. De weg is glad. - Watch out. The road is icy.
Opletten. - Watch out. (or: Attention, in a classroom)
Volhouden. Je bent er bijna. - Hold on. You’re almost there.

A we-imperative also occurs.
Laten we opschieten. - Let’s hurry.
Laten we gaan. - Let’s go.
Laten we gaan voetballen. - Let’s play soccer.

Spelling Summary

Simple Present Tense - weak and strong verbs

To make the present tense conjugation for ik (I, the first person)

To make the present tense conjugation for the other persons in the singular:

To make the present tense conjugation for the plural:

Simple Past Tense - weak verbs

For weak verbs, take the same stem you have made when you worked on the 1st person present tense. Some extra letters are added to this stem to make the past tense of weak verbs. When the sound of the last letter of the crude stem is f, ch, s, t, k, or p, we add te in the singular and ten in the plural. In all the other cases we add de in the singular and den in the plural.
voelen - we voelden - to feel - we felt
bakken - hij bakte - to bake - we baked

You can remember the six sounds by for instance memorising the phrase:

Spelling adaptations apply to the singular and the plural.

Weak Past Participles

When you know a verb is weak, you can find out what the past participle is.

You can remember the six sounds by for instance memorising the phrase:

Pronouns

A pronoun can replace a noun. In the following example, we replace “The baker” by he and “the customer” by her.

De bakker legde de klant alles uit. - The baker explained everything to the customer.
Hij legde haar alles uit. - He explained everything to her.

When we replace nouns by personal pronouns, we need two lists.
The word hij (he) is part of the subjective personal pronouns list. The word haar (her) is part of the objective personal pronouns list.
We will talk about the subjective personal pronouns first, in the next paragraph.

Subjective Personal Pronouns

Subjective personal pronouns are always the subject of the sentence.

Examples:
Hij kookt. - He cooks.
Jij bent belangrijk. - You are important.
Zij zijn ook belangrijk. - They are important too.

The word u is the formal alternative to je and jij (both singular) and jullie (plural). The word u is used less in the plural than in the singular. The word jullie is preferred in many cases.

Subjective Personal Pronouns
singular
ik	I
je jij u	you you you
hij	he
ze zij	she
hij het	it
het	it
plural
wij we	we
jullie u	you you
ze zij	they

Examples:
singular
Ik ben er. - I’m here.
Je bent vroeg. - You’re early.
Ze is er ook. - She’s here too.
Hij praat snel. - He is talking fast. (literally: He talks fast.)
Hij start niet. Het is mijn auto. - He doesn’t start. It’s my car.
Het komt wel goed. - It will be okay.
plural
We zijn kort. - We are short.
Jullie gaan vaak samen tennissen. - You often play tennis together.
Ze zijn er niet. Ze lopen in het park. - They are not here. They are walking in the park.

The next two sentences show that you need a verb to distinguish between she and they in Dutch.
Wie heeft je geholpen? Zij heeft me geholpen. - Who helped you? She helped me.
Wie heeft je geholpen? Zij hebben me geholpen. - Who helped you? They helped me.

Objective Personal Pronouns

Objective personal pronouns are not the subject of the sentence. In the next sentence, hem is the objective personal pronoun.
Ik ken hem. - I know him.

The words mij (me) and ons (us) are objective pronouns and therefore they are never the subject of a sentence.
Peter zag mij. - Peter saw me.
Hij zag mij. - He saw me.
Het is ons overkomen. - It happened to us.

The word u is the formal alternative to jou (singular), je (singular), and jullie (plural). Use je instead of jou if you don’t want to stress the word.

Objective Personal Pronouns
singular
me mij	me
jou je u	you you you
hem	him
haar	her
plural
ons	us
jullie u	you you
hen hun	them

Examples:
singular
De bakker vertelde het aan me. - The baker told me.
De bakker vertelde het aan mij. - The baker told me.
De bakker vertelde het aan jou. - The baker told you.
De bakker vertelde het aan je. - The baker told you.
De bakker vertelde het aan u. - The baker told you.
De bakker vertelde het aan hem. - The baker told him.
De bakker vertelde het aan haar. - The baker told her.
plural
De bakker vertelde het aan ons. - The baker told us.
De bakker vertelde het aan jullie. - The baker told you.
De bakker vertelde het aan u. - The baker told you.
De bakker vertelde het aan hen. - The baker told them.
De bakker vertelde het hun. - The baker told them.

To show how to use hun (them), the last sentence had to loose the word aan (to), because it is a preposition. The word hun cannot follow a preposition, when it means them.

Other examples:
singular
Doe het voor mij. - Do it for me.
Ik denk aan jou. - I think about you.
Dat is vriendelijk van u, mevrouw. - That is kind of you, madam.
Zeg het tegen hem. - Say it to him.
Het boek is door haar geschreven. - The book is written by her.
plural
Wie herkent ons in dit dorp? - Who will recognize us in this village?
Wat er in die doos zit is voor jullie allemaal. - What is in that box is for you all.
Meneer en mevrouw Kuiper, die stoelen zijn voor u. - Mr. and Mrs. Kuiper, those chairs are for you.
Ik ben door hen uitgenodigd. - I am invited by them.
De bakker gaf hun de broden. - The baker gave the loaves to them.

Possessive Pronouns

A possessive pronoun indicates that someone owns something. You can say that you own a certain suitcase using the word mijn (my):
Dat is mijn koffer. - That is my suitcase.

This does not mean ownership in a literally sense. In the next sentence, you do not really say you possess the bus.
Mijn bus komt vijf minuten later aan. - My bus will arrive five minutes later.

Other examples:
Dat is uw stoel. - That is your chair.
Hij kamt zijn haar. - He combs his hair.

The word uw is the formal alternative to jouw, je, and jullie. Use je instead of jouw if you don’t want to stress the possessive pronoun.

Possessive Pronouns
singular
mijn	my
jouw je uw	your your your
zijn haar	his her
plural
ons onze	our our
jullie uw	your your
hun	their

The word ons is used for het-nouns
Neem het boek mee. Het is ons boek. - Take the book with you. It’s our book.

The word onze is used for de-nouns
De tafel is bezet. Is dat onze tafel? - The table is occupied. Is that our table?

The word onze is used for plural nouns too.
Neem de boeken mee. Het zijn onze boeken. - Take the books with you. They’re our books.
De tafels zijn allemaal bezet. Waar zijn onze tafels? - All tables are occupied. Where are our tables?

Look for ons and onze in the examples.

Examples (singular nouns)

Mijn boek ligt op tafel. - My book is at the table.
Jouw boek ligt op tafel. - Your book is at the table.
Uw boek ligt op tafel. - Uw book is at the table.
Zijn boek ligt op tafel. - His book is at the table.
Haar boek ligt op tafel. - Her book is at the table.
Ons boek ligt op tafel. - Our book is at the table.
Jullie boek ligt op tafel. - Your book is at the table.
Uw boek ligt op tafel. - Your book is at the table.
Hun boek ligt op tafel. - Their book is at the table.

mijn tafel - my table
jouw tafel - your table
uw tafel - your table
zijn tafel - his table
haar tafel - her table
onze tafel - our table
jullie tafel - your table
uw tafel - your table
hun tafel - their table

Examples (plural nouns)

Mijn boeken liggen op tafel. - My books are at the table.
Jouw boeken liggen op tafel. - Your books are at the table.
Uw boeken liggen op tafel. - Uw books are at the table.
Zijn boeken liggen op tafel. - His books are at the table.
Haar boeken liggen op tafel. - Her books are at the table.
Onze boeken liggen op tafel. - Our books are at the table.
Jullie boeken liggen op tafel. - Your books are at the table.
Uw boeken liggen op tafel. - Your books are at the table.
Hun boeken liggen op tafel. - Their books are at the table.

mijn tafels - my tables
jouw tafels - your tables
uw tafels - your tables
zijn tafels - his tables
haar tafels - her tables
onze tafels - our tables
jullie tafels - your tables
uw tafels - your tables
hun tafels - their tables

Translating English Possessive Pronouns

The Dutch language does not have words like mine and yours. They tell about somebody who possesses something in English. When you want to translate them to Dutch, use the word van (of) plus one of the Dutch pronouns that is listed in this paragraph.

Example:
Dit huis is van mij. - This house is mine.

We can replace a noun by a possesive pronoun. In this next sentence the noun “Peter” occurs. We can replace this noun by hem. The word van appears in both sentences, because it is needed.

Example:
Deze computer is van Peter. - This computer is Peter’s.
Deze computer is van hem. - This computer is his.

The word van is essential in the following table.

singular
van mij	mine
van jou van u	yours yours
van hem van haar	his hers
plural
van ons	ours
van jullie van u	yours yours
van hen	theirs

Examples:
singular
Het boek is van mij. - The book is mine.
Het boek is van jou. - The book is yours.
Het boek is van u. - The book is yours.
Het boek is van hem. - The book is his.
Het boek is van haar. - The book is hers.
plural
Het boek is van ons. - The book is ours.
Het boek is van jullie. - The book is yours. (plural)
Het boek is van u. - The book is yours. (plural)
Het boek is van hen. - The book is theirs.

The translation of van mij is only mine when we talk about possessions. The word van (of, from, about) is used in other ways too.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns (dit and dat) refer to persons, objects, and abstract things. Imagine you point at something (or somebody) while you speak.

Examples:
singular
dit is de man - this is the man
dat is de man - that is the man
dit is de vrouw - this is the woman
dat is de vrouw - that is the woman
dit is de straat - this is the street
dat is de straat - that is the street
dit is het huis - this is the house
dat is het huis - that’s the house
plural
dit zijn de vrouwen - these are the women
dat zijn de vrouwen - those are the women
dit zijn de mannen - these are the men
dat zijn de mannen - those are the men
dit zijn de straten - these is the streets
dat zijn de straten - those is the streets
dit zijn de huizen - these is the houses
dat zijn de huizen - those are the houses

You can refer to an abstract concept like feeling.
dat is het gevoel - that is the feeling

There are more demonstrative pronouns: deze (these), die (those), zulke (such), dergelijke (such), zoiets (something like that), zo’n (such a). And the almost obsolete gindse (yonder).

Example sentences
Dat is de straat waar Simon woont. - That is the street where Simon lives.
Ik wil zo’n vaas bestellen. - I want to order such a vase.
Ik maak ook zulke schilderijen - I also make paintings like that.

Demonstrative pronouns used like articles

Demonstrative adjectives (dit, dat, deze, and die) can be used instead of the articles de and het. This is only done when you want to make clear a person or thing is close by, or further away.

When something or somebody is close to you

Use die and deze in the plural, but do not use dit and dat here.
deze vrouwen - these women
die vrouwen - those women
deze mannen - these men
die mannen - those men
deze straten - these streets
die straten - those streets
deze huizen - these houses
die huizen - those houses

You can place an adjective in between. The letter e must be added to the adjective you choose. In this case the suffix e is added to lang to make lange.
deze lange vrouw - this tall woman
die lange man - that tall man
dat lange meisje - that tall girl
dit lange meisje - that tall girl

You can leave out the noun sometimes. These are the sentences without the nouns. The pronouns act like the subject here.
Deze is nog op slot. - This one is still locked.
Die is open. - That one is open.
And these are the sentences that include the nouns.
Deze schuur is nog op slot. - This shed is still locked.
Die doos is open. - That box is open.

Note: As you read Dutch texts, you will notice that dat (that) is used more often than dit (this). When you translate the English word this think about it.

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun is used in a clause. A clause is a subsentence of the sentence. English relative pronouns like that and who are often left out. In the English translations in this paragraph, they are included on purpose.

Examples:
De tafel die je ziet, wordt verkocht. - The table that you see, will be sold.
Het boek dat ik lees, gaat over Nederland. - The book that I read, is about the Netherlands.
Bedankt voor alles wat je voor me gedaan hebt. - Thanks for everything that you did for me.
De vrouw voor wie ik boodschappen doe, woont hier. - The woman for whom I do the shopping, lives here.
De koffer die je hebt gekocht, is niet zwaar. - The suitcase that you bought, is not heavy.
Het bedrijf dat jij noemt, ken ik niet. - The company that you mention, I don’t know.
Dat is iemand die je kunt vertrouwen. - That’s someone who you can trust.
Dat is het laatste wat ik vandaag doe. - That’s the last thing that I’ll do today.
Dat is iets wat ik niet kan. - That’s something that I cannot do.
Mijn zus, die ik gebeld heb, is het ermee eens. - My sister, whom I called, agrees.
Dat is haar tante, (aan) wie ze alles heeft verteld. - That is her aunt, (to) whom she told everything.

Interrogative Pronouns

And a question can start with an interrogative pronoun. The word u is the formal alternative to je and jij.

Examples:
Wie ben ik? - Who am I?
Wie ben je? - Who are you?
Wie ben jij? - Who are you?
Wie bent u? - Who are you?
Wie is dat? - Who’s that?
Wie zijn dat? - Who are they?
Wat is dat? - What is that?
Wat is er kapot? - What is broken?
Welk perron hebt u genoemd? - Which platform did you mention?
Welke trein hebt u genoemd? - Which train did you mention?
Wat voor een apparaat is dat? - What kind of machine is that?
Wie zijn apparaat is dat? - Whose machine is that?

You can read more about this subject in the chapter about Questions.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns do not mention a specific person, nor a specific group, nor a specific thing. They are the most vague pronouns a language has.
Iemand doet het. - Somebody does it.
Er ging iets mis. - Something went wrong.
Niemand doet het. - Nobody does it.

A pronoun can be replaced by a noun or a noun phrase. A noun is a word. A noun phrase has one or more words. In the following examples, iemand (somebody) is replaced.
Iemand doet het. - Somebody does it.
Mijn moeder doet het. - My mother does it.
De vrouw die daar staat doet het. - The woman who stands over there does it.

The word je is very often used as an indefinite pronoun. Normally, it means you. The word je can be used as an indefinite pronoun in formal conversation as well, because of the specific meaning of such a pronoun.
Hoe doe je dat? - How is this done?
Je maakt het beslag in een kom. - You make (one makes) the batter in a bowl.

The indefinite pronoun men is rarely used.
Men maakt het beslag in een kom. - One makes the batter in a bowl.

The pronouns sommige and andere are used for things. The pronouns are in bold font. The other words (like adjectives) are not.
Sommige dingen zijn duur. Andere niet. - Some things are expensive. Others are not.
Sommige zijn duur. Andere niet. - Some are expensive. Others are not.
Sommige dingen zijn duur. Andere dingen niet. - Some things are expensive. Other things are not.

The pronouns sommigen and anderen are used for people. The pronouns are in bold font. The other words are not.
Sommige mensen doen dat graag. Anderen niet. - Some people like to do it. Others don’t.
Sommigen doen dat graag. Anderen niet. - Some like to do it. Others don’t.
Sommige mensen doen dat graag. Andere mensen niet. - Some people like to do it. Other people don’t.

The follow sentences are less formal.
Een of andere voorbijganger heeft hem beschadigd. - Some person passing by has damaged it.
Heeft hij die en die gebeld? - Did he call so-and-so?

Adverbs

Adverbs do not say something about nouns (for example, book and table are nouns), but about other elements of the sentence.

In this example, the adverb morgen (tomorrow) says something about the verb komen (to come).
Ik kom morgen - I will come tomorrow.

In this example, the adverb heel (very) says something about the adjective lang (tall).
Het heel lange gras. - The very tall grass.

In this example, the adverb heel (very) says something about the adverb vaak (often).
Ik reis heel vaak naar België. - I travel to Belgium very often.

The next examples show more adverbs. They are always spelled the same. So never add letters to a word that is used as an adverb.

Examples:
Time Adverbs
Ik ga morgen naar huis. - I go home tomorrow.
Ik zag jou gisteren. - I saw you yesterday.
Ik kook vandaag. - I’ll do the cooking today.
Ik kook soms. - I’m used to do the cooking sometimes.
Ik kook vaak. - I often do the cooking.
Ik kook altijd. - I always do the cooking.
Ik nies steeds. - I’m sneezing continually.
Dan ben ik jarig. - Then it’s my birthday.
Hij is net aangekomen. - He just arrived.
Ik heb het pas gehoord. - I’ve heard it recently.
Location Adverbs
Ik ben hier. - I am here.
Ik ga ergens heen. - I will go somewhere.
Other Adverbs
Ik kom niet. - I will not come.
Ik kom misschien. - Maybe, I’ll come.
Het is helaas te koud vandaag. - Unfortunately it is too cold today.
Ik wil graag een ticket van u. - I would like to receive a ticket from you.
Het ging bijna mis. - It almost went wrong.
Eigenlijk is deze tas te zwaar. - Properly speaking, this bag is too heavy.
Er zijn nog twee koffers. - There are two more suitcases.

Because er is an important adverb, it has a paragraph of its own.

The adverb er

The Dutch word er is used in many ways. It is often translated by there. It appears in sentences where it seems to have no meaning at all, and often, that is true.

When we talk about a location, er means there.
Er zijn drie schoenwinkels in deze straat. - There are three shoe stores in this street.

If you don’t know the subject of the sentence, er helps to construct the sentence. You can also use er, when you don’t want to mention the subject.
Er wordt aangebeld. - Somebody is calling at the door.
Er wordt niets aan gedaan. - Nothing is done about it.
Er is een kraan gerepareerd. - A tap was repaired.

Use er to introduce a person or thing.
Er is iemand binnengekomen. - Somebody entered.
Er kwam iemand langs met een kinderwagen. - Somebody came by with a perambulator.
Er is een klant. - A customer has arrived. (literally: There is a customer.)
Er is thee. - There’s tea available.

The word er can be used as a part of a preposition.
Nu giet ik de olie erin. - Now I’m pouring the oil into it.
Ik weet er alles van. - I know all about it.
Ik ben ervan geschrokken. - I was startled by it.
Ik heb er veel aan. - I can benefit from this (thing).
Jullie mogen ermee rijden. - You are allowed to drive it.

When you mention number and leave out the object, er is needed.
Ik heb vier winterbanden gekocht. - I bought four winter tyres.
Ik heb er vier gekocht. - I bought four of them.
Ik heb een jas gekocht. - I bought a coat.
Ik heb er één gekocht. - I bought one.

This example shows that er does not always mean there.
Er is iets gebeurd. - Something happened.
Wat is er gebeurd? - What happened?
Wie gaat er mee? - Who will come along?
Er zijn honderd exemplaren verkocht. - One hundred copies are sold.

But when you need the word there, use daar.
Daar is het gebeurd. - It happened over there.
Wat is daar gebeurd? - What happened there?

When you need the word here, use hier.
De schuurmachine staat hier. - The sander is here.

The next expression is very common. If you move een muis to the front and leave er out, it sounds uncommon.
Er zit een muis in de kast. - There’s a mouse in the cupboard.
But if you know the mouse, it is different. Don’t use er and de muis in one expression.
De muis zit in de kast. - The mouse is in the cupboard.

Two Kinds of Adverbs

Some words can only be used as an adverb. Examples are: vaak (often) and gisteren (yesterday).
Ik reis vaak naar België. - I often travel to Belgium.

But many words are used as adverbs and adjectives, like groen (green) and snel (fast). It is an adjective when you say:
Een snel schip. - A fast ship.

It is an adverb when you say:
Het schip roest snel. - The ship rusts quickly.
You do not mean that the ship is quick, but you mean this:
Dat is een snel roestend schip. - That is a quickly rusting ship.

It’s the rusting that is quickly. Quickly says something about the verb to rust. When snel is used this way, it is an adverb.

More examples of adverbs:
The colors are not good, the matching is good:
De kleuren passen goed bij elkaar. - The colors match well.
The train might be slow, but that isn’t said. The acceleration is slow.
De trein versnelt langzaam. - The train accelerates slowly.
The boy might be fast if he wants to. The walking is slow here.
De jongen loopt langzaam. - The boy walks slowly.

In English adverbs often end in ly, for example quickly. Dutch adverbs doesn’t have a suffix that helps you to recognize them.

Important: A Dutch adverb is always spelled the same. Dutch adjectives are not always spelled the same. Therefore adjectives are more difficult to learn than adverbs.

Adverbs in English

In English, adverbs often end with ly:
Kom snel. - Come quickly.
een snel paard - a quick horse

Prepositions

Prepositions can tell you something about the location of a person or thing. English has prepositions like: on, under, in front of, over, and behind. A preposition can also have an abstract meaning.

The prepositions in the following sentences have a literal meaning. You can use them when you talk about tangible things, like boxes, houses, and tables.
Hij ligt weer in het water. - He’s in the water again.
Kijk door het raam. - Look through the window.
Haal het uit de doos. - Take it out of the box.
Ik ga naar huis. - I go home. (literally: I go to house.)
Ik parkeerde voor de winkel. - I parked in front of the shop.
Ze zijn voor ons aangekomen. - They have arrived before us.
Zet de kast achter of voor de tafel. - Place the cupboard behind or in front of the table.
De pan staat op tafel. - The pan is on the table.
Ze heeft op die ladder gestaan. - She was standing on that ladder.
Dat is de brug over de rivier. - That’s the bridge over the river.
Hij zit naast de burgemeester. - He is sitting next to the mayor.
Hij woont in Antwerpen. - He lives in Antwerp.

Because af does not precede de trap (the stairs), we call it a postposition.
Ik ging de trap af. - I went downstairs.
Ik fietste de heuvel af. - I cycled down the hill.

The following expressions are more abstract. The prepositions do not have a literal meaning here.
Ze praat over jou. - She’s talking about you.
Dit hoofdstuk gaat over voorzetsels. - This chapter is about prepositions.
Kan ik iets voor je doen? - Can I do something for you?
Ben jij er ook tegen? - Are you against it too?
Ben jij er ook voor? - Are you in favor too?
Dat komt door de caravan. - It is caused by the caravan.
Ze heeft op een tennisclub gezeten. - She has been a member of a tennis club.
Ze heeft het tegen jou. - She’s talking to you.
Ze praat tegen jou. - She’s talking to you.
Ze praat met jou. - She has a conversation with you.

Some archaic prepositions are still in use
Auto te water! - Car in the water!
ter plaatse - at the spot

In formal letters and contracts you can still read phrases like:
te Amsterdam - in Amsterdam
ter inzage - for you to read (literally: for you to view)
ter kennisgeving - for you to know

Conjunctions

Conjunctions can join two sentences together.

Coordinating Conjunctions

The most simple way to join two sentences, is using a coordinating conjunction, because the word order will not change then. For example, place en (and) between the sentences.

Imagine the following situation, first described in two short sentences, and then described in a long one:
Hij wil naar huis. - He wants to go home.
Hij heeft geen geld. - He has no money.
Hij wil naar huis en hij heeft geen geld. - He wants to go home and he has no money.

You can replace the word en by other coordinating conjunctions: maar (but), want (because), dus (so the conclusion is), and of (or). Don’t forget to add a comma where it is needed.
Hij wil naar huis en hij heeft geen geld. - He wants to go home and he has no money.
Hij wil naar huis, maar hij heeft geen geld. - He wants to go home, but he has no money.
Hij wil naar huis, want hij heeft geen geld. - He wants to go home, because he has no money.
Hij wil naar huis, dus hij heeft geen geld. - He wants to go home, so he has no money.
Hij wil naar huis of hij heeft geen geld. - He wants to go home or he has no money.

The word maar in two additional examples. Note the word order, which is normal.
Ik heb de moersleutel nodig. - I need the spanner.
Die is kwijt. - It is lost.
Ik heb de moersleutel nodig, maar die is kwijt. - I need the spanner, but it is lost.

Ik kom deze week. - I’ll come this week.
Ik kom vandaag niet. - I won’t come today.
Ik kom deze week, maar ik kom vandaag niet. - I’ll come this week, but I won’t come today.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions change the word order of the second short sentence, that is used to compound the long sentence.

The word omdat means because. Use want (because) if you don’t want the word order to change.
You can see below that the word order of the second sentence is changed, when it is joined to the first by omdat.
The verb heeft (has) moves to the last position of the sentence. This does not happen in English.
Hij wil naar huis. - He wants to go home.
Hij heeft geen geld. - He has no money.
Hij wil naar huis, omdat hij geen geld heeft. - He wants to go home, because he has no money.

You can replace omdat by aangezien. Both mean because. Aangezien is used less frequent.
Hij wil naar huis, aangezien hij geen geld heeft. - He wants to go home, because he ran out of money.

Hoewel means although. It is used to mention an argument that is ignored.
We join the next two sentences:
Ik ga niet surfen. - I’m not going to surf.
Het is zondag. - It is Sunday.
Ik ga niet surfen, hoewel het zondag is. - I’m not going to surf, although it is Sunday.

The word als (if) is used to mention a condition that must be met.
We join the next two sentences:
Ik ga niet surfen. - I’m not going to surf.
Het is windstil. - There is no wind.
Ik ga niet surfen, als het windstil is. - I’m not going to surf, when there is no wind.

The word tenzij (unless) is the opposite of als. If we take the previous sentence and adapt it, we must leave out the word niet (not) to get a logical sentence.
Ik ga surfen, tenzij het windstil is. - I’m going to surf, unless there is no wind.

behalve als means unless. It is an alternative to tenzij.
Ik ga surfen, behalve als het windstil is. - I’m going to surf, unless there is no wind.
An alternative translation using the English word except is:
Ik ga surfen, behalve als het windstil is. - I’m going to surf, except when there is no wind.

toen means when.
Ik ging naar huis toen ik honger kreeg. - I went home when I got hungry.

You can start a sentence with toen. This kind of sentences is discussed later. More interesting is that although can be avoided. Look at the complicated word order of the hoewel-sentence.
Ik ga niet surfen, hoewel het zondag is. - I’m not going to surf, although it is Sunday.
And compare this to the easy maar-sentence, which means about the same.
Het is zondag, maar ik ga niet surfen. - It is Sunday, but I’m not going to surf.

Time Conjunctions

Time conjunctions are subordinating conjunctions.

voordat means before.
Ik ging surfen. - I went surfing.
Ik had gegeten. - I had had a meal.
Ik ging surfen voordat ik had gegeten. - I went surfing before I had a meal.
Ik ging surfen voordat ik gegeten had. - I went surfing before I had a meal.

nadat means after.
Ik ging surfen nadat ik had gegeten. - I went surfing after I had a meal.
Ik ging surfen nadat ik gegeten had. - I went surfing after I had a meal.

na means after. If we use it instead of nadat we must change the sentence a little.
het eten (the meal) is informal for de maaltijd.
Ik ging surfen na het eten. - I went surfing, after the meal.

voor means before. The sentence has the same structure as a sentence with na.
Ik ging surfen voor het eten. - I went surfing before the meal.

Moving Subordinating Conjunctions to the Front

You can move a subordinating conjunction to the front. The second subsentence, that belongs to it of course, moves to the front also. The word order is quite different from what we have seen. Just look at the pattern to get used to it. If you make sentences yourself, you can probably avoid complexity like this.

Omdat hij geen geld heeft, wil hij naar huis. - Because he ran out of money, he wants to go home.
Aangezien hij geen geld heeft, wil hij naar huis. - Because he ran out of money, he wants to go home.
Hoewel het zondag is, ga ik niet surfen. - Although it is Sunday, I’m not going to surf.
Als het windstil is, ga ik niet surfen. - When there is no wind, I’m not going to surf.
Als het windstil is, dan ga ik niet surfen. - When there is no wind, then I’m not going to surf.
Tenzij het windstil is, ga ik surfen. - Unless there is no wind, I’m going to surf.
Behalve als het windstil is, ga ik surfen. - Unless there is no wind, I’m going to surf.

You can start a sentence with a time conjunction.
Voordat ik gegeten had, ging ik surfen. - Before I had a meal, I went surfing.
Nadat ik gegeten had, ging ik surfen. - After I had a meal, I went surfing.
Na het eten ging ik surfen. - After the meal, I went surfing.
Voor het eten ging ik surfen. - Before the meal I went surfing.
Toen ik honger kreeg, ging ik naar huis. - When I got hungry, I went home.

Coordinating Conjunctions are Easy Conjunctions

Conjunctions that do not disturb the word order are:
en - and
maar - but
want - because
dus - so
of - or

Just link two normal sentences by a conjunction like this (coordinating conjunctions). Then you will have a correct sentence without word order problems.

Sometimes it will also work if the second sentence is a question.
Hij is rijk. - He is rich.
Is hij intelligent? - Is he intelligent?
Hij is rijk, maar is hij intelligent? - He is rich, but is he intelligent?

A two questions example:
Is hij lang? - Is he tall?
Is hij kort? - Is he short?
Is hij lang of is hij kort? - Is he tall or is he short?
The previous sentence can be abbreviated this way:
Is hij lang of kort? - Is he tall or short?

Other Words

Interjections do not contribute to the structure of a sentence. All other parts of speech do.

Ja

The word ja means yes. You can affirm what is said or answer a question positively.
Ga je mee? - Will you come along?
Ja, ik ga mee. - Yes, I’ll come along.

When someone pronounces the word slowly, he is just thinking. The context must make clear if that’s the case.
Ga je mee? - Will you come along?
Ja, dat weet ik eigenlijk nog niet. - Well, I don’t know yet.

Double ja can show unbelief about what is said.
Daar kan je je voorruit mee schoonmaken. - You can clean your windscreen with this.
Ja ja. Dat geloof ik niet. - Hm, I don’t believe that.

jawel gives a strong (somewhat informal) stress to the word.
Je hebt de voordeur niet dichtgedaan. - You did not close the front door.
Jawel. Ik weet het zeker. - Oh yes, I’m sure.

Nee

The word nee means no. You can reject what is said or answer a question negatively.
Ga je mee? - Will you come along?
Nee, ik ga niet mee. - No, I won’t come along.

It depends highly on the person how words like zeg (say), ja or nee are used in different situations.
O nee! Mijn fototoestel is gestolen. - O, no! My camera is stolen.
Nee zeg! Een vlek op mijn jas . - O, no! A stain on my coat.
Nee, meneer. U mag die lift niet gebruiken. - No, sir. You are not allowed to use that elevator.

Greetings and Wishes in Spoken Language

Here are some ways to say hallo or good bye. Some words come and go. Others last for centuries. You will find some verbs and adverbs in this list, although they are not interjections.

Goedemorgen, meneer. - Good morning, sir.
Goedemiddag, meneer. - Good afternoon, sir.
Goedenavond, mevrouw. - Good night, madam.
Hallo. - Hello.
Hoi. - Hi.
Hi. - Hi.
Dag. - Bye.
Dag, John. - Hi, John.
Doei. - Bye bye.
Tot ziens. - See you.
Tot morgen. - See you tomorrow.
Tot volgende week. - Till next week.
Prettig weekend. - Have a nice weekend.
Eet smakelijk. - Have a nice meal.
Welterusten. - Good night.
Gefeliciteerd. - Congratulations.



Continue to part 3