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).

Past Perfect

The past perfect is “one step deeper” into the past than the simple past.

The past perfect is used to show that some action was completed before some other event happened. In this case, the ‘waiting’ was completed, just before ‘I’ went home.

Ik had lang gewacht. Ik stond op en ging naar huis. - I had waited for a long time. I rose and went home.
Ik had gewacht. - I had waited.

The table of wachten in the past perfect is shown below. It is based on the table of the simple past of hebben. The only difference is, that the word gewacht is added everywhere. The word gewacht is the past participle of wachten.

wachten (to wait) - past perfect
singular		plural
ik had gewacht	I had waited	we hadden gewacht	we had waited
je had gewacht	you had waited	jullie hadden gewacht	you had waited
hij had gewacht	he had waited	ze hadden gewacht	they had waited

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

Perfect Tense in General

Auxiliary verbs

A verb is an auxiliary verb when it is used to assist another verb. Normal use (not as an auxiliary) of such a verb is shown in the next two examples. Normal use of zijn (to be) and hebben (to have) is:
Ik ben Peter. - I am Peter.
Ik heb een lichte koffer. - I have a light suitcase.

These verbs can be used as auxiliary verbs. For instance, this way:
Ik heb het gezien. - I have seen it. (or: I saw it.)
Ik ben gekomen. - I have come. (or: I came.)
Ik ben gevonden. - I have been found. (or: I am found.)
Ze hebben me gevonden. - They have found me.

Zijn (to be) and hebben (to have) are static verbs, but worden (to become) is a dynamic verb. It describes a process, or a change in a situation.
Ik word oud. - I am getting old.

In addition, the verb worden is an auxiliary verb in the passive voice. It is translated by to be then.
Ik word gedragen tot ik ergens kan zitten. - I am carried, until I can sit down somewhere.
Hij wordt goed behandeld. - He is treated well.

When the Dutch verb zijn is an auxiliary verb, it is not always translated by the English verb to be. Examples of this are:
Ik ben gekomen. - I have come.
Jij bent gekomen. - You have come.

Conclusion: when verbs like to be or to have are used as auxiliary verbs, they lose their original meanings. English and Dutch both have verbs that lose their original meanings when used as auxiliary verbs.

Auxiliary verbs: travelling and movement

The auxiliary verb zijn is also used in connection to travelling, in the active voice. The active voice means that the person is active. When something is done to him, he is passive. That is not the subject of this paragraph. We are talking about a person who does something and we use a verb that normally takes hebben as an auxiliary. Nevertheless, the auxiliary verb zijn is used.

The conjugations of the verb zijn are underlined in the following sentences, to help you not to miss the point.

Use the verb hebben when you don’t know anything about the start and finish of a journey. Use zijn when you know the start or finish of a journey.
Ik heb gefietst. - I have cycled.
Ik ben naar huis gefietst. - I have cycled home.
Ik heb gereden. - I have driven.
Ik ben naar het winkelcentrum gereden. - I have driven to the shopping center.

Replace hebben by zijn when necessary:
Ik heb gevlogen. - I flew.
Ik ben naar Singapore gevlogen. - I flew to Singapore.

Ik heb gelopen. - I have walked.
Ik heb rondgelopen. - I have walked around.
Ik ben weggelopen. - I have walked away.

Ik heb op een racefiets gereden. - I rode a racing bike.
Hij is op zijn reservefiets naar Parijs gereden. - He rode to Paris on this spare bike.

Active Voice and Passive Voice

When the subject of the sentence does something, the sentence is in the active voice. If something happens to that person, we use the passive voice.
In the passive voice the Dutch verb worden is translated by to be.
Ze worden door brandweerlieden gedragen. - They are carried by fire fighters.
De motor moet uitgezet worden. - The engine has to be turned off.

In the passive voice it is correct to omit the participle geworden (translated by been) . At the end of the next Dutch sentences, geworden is left out, while the English translations do include been.
Ze zijn door brandweerlieden gedragen. - They have been carried by fire fighters. (or: They were carried by fire fighters.)
Ze waren door brandweerlieden gedragen. - They had been carried by fire fighters.

If we take a sentence and simply replace the auxiliary verb hebben by zijn or worden, this often results in the passive voice. The verb dragen (to carry) is in the active voice:
Ik heb gedragen. - I have carried.
Ik had gedragen. - I had carried.
And in the passive voice:
Ik word gedragen. - I am carried.
Ik werd gedragen. - I was carried.
Ik ben gedragen. - I have been carried. (or: I was carried)
Ik was gedragen. - I had been carried.

Examples of the passive voice of vinden (to find) are:
Ik word door Peter gevonden. - I am found by Peter.
Ik word door Peter gevonden als hij goed zoekt. - I will be found by Peter if he searches well.
Ik ben door Peter gevonden. - I have been found by Peter. (or: I was found by Peter.)
Ik was door Peter gevonden. - I had been found by Peter.
These four things can be said in the active voice:
Peter vindt mij. - Peter finds me.
Peter zal mij vinden als hij goed zoekt. - Peter will find me if he searches well.
Peter heeft mij gevonden. - Peter has found me.
Peter had mij gevonden. - Peter had found me.

The following example is a pair of sentences, which have about the same meaning. This first is in the passive voice.
Mijn zus wordt door Peter gestuurd. - My sister is sent by Peter.
Peter stuurt mijn zus. - Peter is sending my sister.

Note: when zijn shows up in the Dutch passive voice, this is because zijn is the auxiliary verb of worden, just as to have is the auxiliary of to be.

The Verb Zullen

The verb zullen (shall, will) is important. The simple future tense and the future perfect tense are both build on this verb. They need the simple present tense of zullen. The conditional mood needs the simple past tense of zullen.

zullen (shall, will) - simple present
singular		plural
ik zal	I will	we zullen	we will
je zult	you will	jullie zullen	you will
hij zal	he will	ze zullen	they will

This is the verb zullen in the simple past tense.

zullen (shall, will) - simple past
singular		plural
ik zou	I would	we zouden	we would
je zou	you would	jullie zouden	you would
hij zou	he would	ze zouden	they would

Simple Future

When you talk about something that will happen in the future, you can use the simple future tense. You need to know:

If you want to make a table of the simple future of vinden, then write down the simple present of zullen first. When you have done that, add the verb vinden to every sentence. This is the result:

vinden (to find) - simple future
singular		plural
ik zal vinden	I will find	we zullen vinden	we will find
je zult vinden	you will find	jullie zullen vinden	you will find
hij zal vinden	he will find	ze zullen vinden	they will find

The simple future tense of the verb hebben (to have) is made the same way.

hebben (to have) - simple future
singular		plural
ik zal hebben	I will have	we zullen hebben	we will have
je zult hebben	you will have	jullie zullen hebben	you will have
hij zal hebben	he will have	ze zullen hebben	they will have

Future Perfect

When you talk about some action that will be completed in the future, you can use the future perfect. It is rarely used in Dutch.

This is the verb wachten in the future perfect. It is based on the verb hebben (to have) of the simple future. The word gewacht (waited) is added to it.

wachten (to wait) - future perfect
singular		plural
ik zal hebben gewacht	I will have waited	we zullen hebben gewacht	we will have waited
je zult hebben gewacht	you will have waited	jullie zullen hebben gewacht	you will have waited
hij zal hebben gewacht	he will have waited	ze zullen hebben gewacht	they will have waited

Conditional

When you want to say that something will happen if certain conditions are met, you can use the conditional mood. We have two. The first (simply called conditional) uses the simple past of the verb zullen.

You need to know:

If you want to make a table of the conditional mood of vinden, then write down the simple past of zullen first. When you have done that, add the verb vinden to every sentence. This is the result:

vinden (to find) - conditional mood
singular		plural
ik zou vinden	I would find	we zouden vinden	we would find
je zou vinden	you would find	jullie zouden vinden	you would find
hij zou vinden	he would find	ze zouden vinden	they would find

The word als (if) is important in the following examples, because the conditional mood speaks about conditions to be met.
Ik zou het vinden als ik mijn bril op had. - I would find it if I had my glasses on.
Ik zou het kopen als ik jou was. - I would buy it if I were you.
Hij zou terugkomen als hij dat wist. - He would come back if he knew that.

You can also use the conditional mood to ask some polite questions.
Zou u naar binnen willen gaan? - Would you go inside?
Zou u mijn pen willen teruggeven, alstublieft? - Would you return my pen, please?
Zou u mij iets willen uitleggen? - Would you explain something to me?

The verb hebben (to have) is in the conditional:

hebben (to have) - conditional mood
singular		plural
ik zou hebben	I would have	we zouden hebben	we would have
je zou hebben	you would have	jullie zouden hebben	you would have
hij zou hebben	he would have	ze zouden hebben	they would have

Conditional Perfect

If an action would have been completed in the past, when certain conditions would have been met, we use the conditional mood and the perfect tense.

To make the conditional perfect you need to know:

The verb wachten in the conditional mood combined with the perfect tense is shown below. It is based on the conditional mood of the verb hebben (to have).

wachten (to wait) - conditional perfect
singular		plural
ik zou hebben gewacht	I would have waited	we zouden hebben gewacht	we would have waited
je zou hebben gewacht	you would have waited	jullie zouden hebben gewacht	you would have waited
hij zou hebben gewacht	he would have waited	ze zouden hebben gewacht	they would have waited

The word als (if) is important in the following examples. The conditional perfect talks about conditions that should have been met.
Ik zou het hebben gevonden als ik een landkaart had gebruikt. - I would have found it if I had used a map.
Ik zou hebben gewacht als ik jou was. - I would have waited if I were you.
Mijn tas zou zijn gevonden als hij ons had geholpen. - My bag would have been found if he would have helped us.

The conditional perfect is also used to express doubt. This is done by the press, when avoiding to make a statement about something they don’t know. “Hij zou hebben gefraudeerd.” means something like “He is accused of practicing fraud.”

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.

Example Verb: Sturen

This overview of Dutch tenses uses the verb sturen (to send). Very rare phrases are in [ ] brackets.

Verb: sturen (to send, to steer) Infinitive: sturen Present participle: sturend Past participle: gestuurd Imperative: Stuur!
active voice (I send, and seven other tenses)
	imperfect - action goes on -	perfect - action completed -
present	ik stuur	ik heb gestuurd
past	ik stuurde	ik had gestuurd
future	ik zal sturen	[ik zal hebben gestuurd]
It happens under certain conditions	ik zou sturen	ik zou hebben gestuurd
passive voice (I’m send, and seven other tenses)
	imperfect - action goes on -	perfect - action completed -
present	ik word gestuurd	ik ben gestuurd
past	ik werd gestuurd	ik was gestuurd
future	ik zal worden gestuurd	[ik zal zijn gestuurd]
It happens under certain conditions	ik zou worden gestuurd	ik zou zijn gestuurd

An example for every tense follows. Very rare phrases are in [ ] brackets.

Example sentences:
active:
Ik stuur een brief. - I send a letter.
Ik heb een brief gestuurd. - I have sent a letter.
Ik stuurde een e-mail. - I sent an email.
Ik had de brief al gestuurd, toen ik die spelfout ontdekte. - I had sent the letter already, when I discovered that spelling error.
Ik zal een factuur sturen. - I will sent an invoice.
[Voor je teruggekomen bent, zal ik alles hebben gestuurd.] - [Before you have returned, I will have sent everything.]
Ik zou een factuur sturen. - I would sent an invoice.
Ik zou een factuur hebben gestuurd. - I would have sent an invoice.
passive:
Ik word vandaag naar Parijs gestuurd. - Today, I’m sent to Paris.
Ik ben door hem gestuurd. - I’m sent by him.
Ik werd niet alleen gestuurd. - I was not sent alone.
Ik was de verkeerde kant op gestuurd. Toen ik dat merkte, kwam ik terug. - I was sent in the wrong direction. When I noticed, I came back.
Ik zal wel naar Berlijn worden gestuurd. - I’ll be sent to Berlin, I suppose.
[Dan zal ik al naar Berlijn zijn gestuurd.] - [Then I’ll be sent to Berlin already.]
Ik zou worden gestuurd, maar ze stuurden iemand anders. - I would have been sent, but they sent someone else.
Ik zou zijn gestuurd als ik meer ervaring had gehad. - I would have been sent, if I had had more experience.

The next examples explain the use of the infinitive, the present participle, the past participle and the imperative.
Infinitive
Ga je die brief vandaag sturen? - Are you going to send that letter today?
Present Participle
Voorzichtig sturend, testte hij de auto die hij wilde kopen. - Steering carefully, he tested the car he wanted to buy.
Past Participle
Ik heb gestuurd. - I have sent (or: I have steered.)
Imperative: a command
Stuur hem naar me toe. - Send him to me.

Conjunctive

The conjunctive is used rarely in Dutch. It has few possible meanings. It is an expression of

The word tenzij (although) is used frequently. The syllable zij is recognizable as an old conjunctive.
Ik ga surfen, tenzij het windstil is. - I’m going to surf, unless there is no wind.

Dankzij is used to mention the cause of something, in a positive way. The old conjunctive is seen here too.
Dankzij jou is het gelukt. - May thanks be to you, it succeeded. (Thanks to you, it succeeded.)

The following sentences express a wish.
Dat moge duidelijk zijn. - May that be obvious. (That is obvious.)
We zeiden: “Lang leve de koningin.” - We said: “May the Queen live long.” (Long live the Queen.)
Op die munt staat: “God zij met ons.” - That coin states: “May God be with us.”

The following expression shows some indifference.
Ben ik tweede geworden in deze wedstrijd? Het zij zo. - Am I second in this contest? So be it.

The word zij in these examples is derived from the verb zijn (to be). Normally zij means she or they.
The word leve comes from leven (to live), and the word moge from mogen (may). The conjunctive is used rarely.

Intransitive and Transitive Verbs

Intransitive verbs
If an action by the subject does not affect other persons or things, the verb is intransitive. The subject of the first sentence is ik (I).
Ik zit. - I sit.
Ze rent. - She runs.
Ze loopt door het park naar huis. - She walks home through the park.

Some verbs, like zitten (to sit), are always used intransitive.

Transitive Verbs
If an action by the subject affects other persons or things, the verb is transitive. In the next example een portemonnee (a purse) is influenced by what happens.
Ik vind een portemonnee. - I find a purse.

Some Dutch verbs are only used as transitive verbs, while their English translations are used as transitive or intransitive verbs. The Dutch verbs below have to be used as transitive verbs always. This is accomplished here by adding het (it) to the sentence.
Ik begrijp het. - I understand.
Ik kan het. - I can.
Ik hoop het. - I hope so.
Ik weet het. - I know.
Ik weet het. - I know that.

A verb is used transitive when a direct object is involved. The direct object is the thing or person that is directly affected by the action. The direct objects (het for instance) are in bold font here.
Ik weet het. - I know it.
Dat weet ik. - I know that.
Ik doe de was. - I do the laundry.

Verbs like doen (to do) are always transitive in Dutch, so you have to mention what is done. If you don’t want to be specific, use het (it).
Ik doe het morgen. - I’ll do it tomorrow.

Dutch and English Tenses - Resemblances

Dutch applies tenses in a different way than the English language does. Let’s look at the resemblances first.

The Dutch simple present often is applied like the English simple present. These translations are literal, but correct.
Ik ben hier. - I am here.
Jij hebt een potlood. - You have a pencil.

In novels, literal translation is often correct. Simple past = simple past. Past perfect = past perfect. This little story is an example of this.
Ik kwam thuis. Ik had andere stoelen gekocht. Ik zette ze in de keuken. - I came home. I had bought other chairs. I put them in the kitchen.

Translating the present continuous tense
Only when emphasizing that an action is continuing, the Dutch language uses some phrases that look like the present continuous tense.

Dutch and English Tenses - Differences

Dutch applies tenses in a different way than the English language does. Let’s look at some differences.

Simple Present Tense instead of Continuous Tense
The next examples show how the English present continuous tense is translated by the Dutch simple present tense. This occurs as good as always.
Ik loop door het park. - I am walking in the park.
Ik wacht. Ondertussen wordt het donker. - I’m waiting. In the meantime it is getting dark.

Simple Present Tense instead of Future Tense
In the next examples Dutch applies the simple present tense, while English uses the future tense. This occurs quite often. The future tense is not used very often in Dutch.
De trein komt om twee uur aan. - The train will arrive at two o’clock.
De trein komt over vijf minuten. - The train will arrive in five minutes.
Ik ben er morgen ook. - I will be here tomorrow too.
Ik werk vandaag tot drie uur. - Today I will work till three.
Ik spreek hem morgen wel. - I will talk to him tomorrow.
Ik bel je morgen. - I will call you tomorrow.

The last sentence is in the future tense: “Ik zal je morgen bellen.” The translation is also: I will call you tomorrow.

Present Perfect instead of Simple Past
Dutch prefers the present perfect, when English prefers the simple past. Here are the examples. This is very common in spoken language also.
Wie heeft het gedaan? - Who did it?
Ik heb een uur gezwommen. - I swam for an hour.
Heb je het licht aangedaan? - Did you turn on the light?
Heb je gegeten? - Did you eat?

Past Perfect as a Conditional
In Dutch the past perfect can be used as a conditional mood. When you want to make clear you would have done something differently, you can say:
Je bent ongeduldig. Ik had langer gewacht. - You are impatient. I would have waited longer.

Another example of this is shown below. When we want to translate the Dutch sentence to English, the context makes clear that a literal translation “had bought” cannot be correct.
Wat zijn dit zware stoelen. Ik had andere stoelen gekocht. - These chairs are heavy indeed. I would have bought other chairs.

But the translation “had bought” is often correct, like in the example below. The paragraph about resemblances shows this sentence too, because this is a resemblance.
Ik kwam thuis. Ik had andere stoelen gekocht. Ik zette ze in de keuken. - I came home. I had bought other chairs. I put them in the kitchen.

Passive Voice
The auxilary verbs in the passive voice are worth noticing, because worden is translated by the English verb to be in the passive voice.
Hij wordt door brandweerlieden gedragen. - He is carried by fire fighters.
Hij moest door brandweerlieden gedragen worden. - He had to be carried by fire fighters.

The participle geworden is omitted, which is correct in Dutch, but only when in the passive voice is concerned. In the passive voice, the English equivalent to geworden is been.
Hij is door brandweerlieden gedragen. - He has been carried by fire fighters. (or: He was carried by fire fighters.)
Hij was door brandweerlieden gedragen. - He had been carried by fire fighters.

Spelling Summary

This chapter is also part of the document Verb Conjugation.

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:

Note for all persons (singular and plural): If the verb has a separable prefix

Simple Present Tense - irregular verbs

For irregular verbs, you need more information to conjugate the simple present tense.

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.

Simple Past Tense - strong and irregular verbs

For strong and irregular verbs, you need more information to conjugate the simple past tense.

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:

Note: compound verbs are conjugated differently.

Strong Past Participles

To conjugate strong past participles you need more information about the verb involved. The ending is en.


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