Dutch

Conjugate Verbs

Facts

  • Language: Dutch
  • Alternate names: Nederlands, Hollands
  • Language code: nld
  • Language family: Indo-European, Classical Indo-European, Germanic, Northwest Germanic, West Germanic, Macro-Dutch, Middle-Modern Dutch, Modern Dutch, Global Dutch
  • Number of speakers: 17370777
  • Script: Latin script

More information:

    Introduction

    Three conjugation classes: Weak, strong and irregular.

    Three persons: First, second and third.

    Two numbers: Singular and plural.

    Three moods: Indicative, subjunctive and imperative.

    Two genera verbis: active and passive.

    The conjugation of a Dutch verb is not easy at all. Sometimes it is not sufficient to know how the infinitive is written, you should also know how it is pronounced, in particular where the emphasis is.

    Most infinitives end in -en, sometimes by -ën. The latter is always preceded by a vowel.

    There are five exceptions are: 'staan', 'gaan', 'doen', 'zien', 'zijn'. More exceptions can be made by prepending a prefix, preposition or noun to such a verb, for example: 'verstaan', 'doorgaan', 'ontdoen', 'bezien'.

    An infinitive has always at least two syllables (except the five exceptions).

    Preposition or Noun

    Some verbs begin with a preposition (or noun). Possible prepositions and nouns are: 'door-', 'mee-', 'onder-', 'uit-', 'aaneen-', 'televisie-' and many more. A preposition or noun is always emphasised. There is no sure way to identify a preposition or noun.

    Remember: When you think there is a preposition or noun, but it is not emphasised, it is not a preposition or noun. Example: 'ondergaan' ('onder-' can be a preposition but the emphasis is on gaan'). And when the remaining verb is too short to be a verb, it isn't a preposition or noun either. Example: 'uiten' ('uit can be a preposition, but the remaining '-en' is too short).

    Remove the preposition or noun, if any. All further operations are done with the stripped infinitive, that is, without the preposition or noun.

    Prefix

    Many verbs (without the preposition or noun, if any) begin with a prefix. Possible prefixes include: 'ge-', 'ver-', 'onder-', 'be-'.

    Usually the conjugation of a verb is the same with and without the prefix. For example, 'bevriezen' is conjugated just like 'vriezen' There is one exception: when a verb has a prefix, there is no 'ge-' in the past participle.

    Remember: A prefix is never emphasised. And when the remaining verb is too short to be a verb, it isn't a prefix either. Example: 'vergen' ('ver-' can be a prefix, but the remaining '-gen' is too short).

    Voiced of voiceless

    If the third last letter of the infinitive is -t, -k, -f, -s, -sj, -ch, -p or -x, the verb is voiceless. If the third last letter of the infinitive is any other letter, the verb is voiced.

    Example: 'lezen' is voiced because of the 'z'.

    Stem

    The stem of a verb is formed by removing the final -en or -ën and adapting the spelling (see below).

    Five verbs do not end in '-en' or -ën. (These include 'zien' and 'doen', since 'ie' and 'oe' are units.) The stems of 'gaan', 'staan', 'zien' and 'doen' are 'gaa', 'staa', 'zie' and 'doe' respectively. The verb 'zijn' does not end in '-en' either, but it is irregular.

    Adapting the spelling

    1. If, after removing the suffix -en, the word ends in 'v' or 'z', change it into 'f' or 's'
    2. If, after removing the suffix -en, the word ends in two equal consonants, remove one of them.
    3. If, after removing the suffix -en, the word ends in a single vowel (a, e, o, u, or emphasised e) and a single consonant (except 'uw'), double the vowel.

    Examples

    If the infinitive has three or more syllables, and the second last syllable contains the vowel -e-, it may be hard to know whether the last syllable of the stem is emphasised. Sometimes two different verbs have the same spelling. This problem exists in particular when the verb ends in '-eren' or '-ëren':

    Conjugation of weak verbs (no vowel-change in past tense)

    person present past (voiced) past (voiceless)
    First person sing. ('ik') stem (5) stem + -de stem + -te
    Second person sing. (with 'jij' or 'je') stem + -t (1)(2)(4) stem + -de stem + -te
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') stem + -t (2)(4) stem + -det stem + -tet
    Third person sing. ('hij', 'zij', 'het', 'u') stem + -t (2)(4) stem + -de stem + -te
    First person plural ('wij') infinitive stem + -den stem + -ten
    Second person plural ('jullie') infinitive (3) stem + -den stem + -ten
    Third person plural ('zij') infinitive stem + -den stem + -ten

    Present participle: For all verbs, weak strong or irregular, the present participle is: infinitive + -d. The only exception is 'wezen', its present participle is 'zijnd'. The preposition or noun is prepended, so the present participle of 'doorwerken' is 'doorwerkend'.

    Past participle of weak verbs:

    Note: when the verb has a prefix, there is no 'ge-' in the past participle.

    Conjugation of strong verbs (vowel-change in past tense)

    There is no simple rule for the past tense of strong verbs. There is no straight rule for the vowel-change. One has to learn these verbs by heart to find the right conjugation.

    person present past
    Singular same as weak verbs past tense
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') same as weak verbs past tense + -t (2)
    Plural infinitive past tense + -en (1)

    Exception, if the vowel is 'a', the consonant is not doubled ('mat', 'maten'), and if the consonant is 'f' or 's', it is changed into 'v' or 'z' ('las', 'lazen').

    Exception to the exception: 'had', 'hadden'.

    If the past tense ends in -e, the plural past tense adds only -n: 'zeide', 'zeiden'

    The past plurals of 'kon', 'zou', 'zei', 'lei' are: 'konden', 'zouden' 'leiden' 'zeiden'

    Irregular verbs

    There is also a category of irregular verbs. These are strong. Some of them will show a combination of characteristics from both categories, others have a conjugation which is strictly their own. These verbs must also be learned by heart.

    The tables below mention the irregularities only

      infinitive past participle present participle imperative
      zijn, wezen geweest zijnd wees!
    person present past
    First person sing. ben was
    Second person sing. (with 'jij' or 'je') bent (1) was
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') zijt waart
    Third person sing. is was
    First person plural zijn waren
    Second person plural (with 'jullie') zijn (obs. bent) waren (obs. waart)
    Third person plural zijn waren
      infinitive past participle present participle imperative
      hebben gehad hebbend heb!
    person present past
    First person sing.   had
    Second person sing. (with 'jij' or 'je')  
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') heeft hadt
    Third person sing. heeft
    First person plural   hadden
    Second person plural (with 'jullie')  
    Third person plural  
      infinitive past participle
      zullen (none)
    person present past
    First person sing. zal zou
    Second person sing. (with 'jij' or 'je') zult (1) zou
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') zult zoudt
    Third person sing. zal zou
    First person plural   zouden
    Second person plural (with 'jullie') (obs.zult) zouden, (obs. zoudt)
    Third person plural   zouden
      infinitive past participle
      kunnen gekund
    person present past
    First person sing. kan kon
    Second person sing. (with 'jij' or 'je') kunt (1) kon
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') kunt kondet
    Third person sing. kan kon
    First person plural   konden
    Second person plural (with 'jullie') (obs.kunt) konden
    Third person plural   konden
      infinitive past participle
      willen gewild
    person present past
    First person sing. wil wou, wilde
    Second person sing. (with 'jij' or 'je') wilt (1) wou, wilde
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') wilt wildet
    Third person sing. wil wou, wilde
    First person plural   wouden, wilden
    Second person plural (with 'jullie') (obs.wilt)
    Third person plural  
      infinitive past participle present participle
      mogen gemogen (also gemoogd, gemocht) mogend
    person present past
    First person sing. mag mocht
    Second person sing. (with 'jij' or 'je') mag mocht
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') moogt mochtet
    Third person sing. mag mocht
    First person plural  
    Second person plural (with 'jullie') (obs. moogt)
    Third person plural  
      infinitive past participle present participle imperative
      komen gekomen komend kom!
    person present past
    First person sing. kom kwam
    Second person sing. (with 'jij' or 'je') komt (1) kwam
    Second person sing. (with 'gij' or 'ge') koomt kwaamt
    Third person sing. mag kwam
    First person plural komen kwamen
    Second person plural (with 'jullie') (obs. koomt)
    Third person plural  

    Verbs with a prefix

    Some verbs have a prefix without emphasis.

    Common prefixes are: ver- be- ge- ont- onder- voor-

    Examples are: ervaren, verspreken, ontstaan.

    These verbs are conjugated in the same way as the one without prefix (if it exists), with one exception: there is no prefix ge- in the past participle.

    Infinitive past participle
    staan gestaan
    ontstaan ontstaan
    verstaan verstaan
    kopen gekocht
    verkopen verkocht
    bekopen bekocht

    It is not always easy to see whether a verb has a prefix. For example, 'verbaliseren' is not prefixed and its past participle is 'geverbaliseerd'.

    Verbs with a noun or a preposition

    Some verbs are preceded by a separate word, usually a noun or preposition. This separate word has emphasis, unlike the prefix mentioned above. Things are complicated because that separate word is not always separate, which makes it hard to recognise it.

    Infinitive present indicative past participle
    pianospelen speel piano pianogespeeld
    doorlopen loop door doorgelopen
    koffiedrinken drink koffie koffiegedronken

    It is even possible that there is no spelling difference between a prefixed verb and a verb with a preposition:

    Infinitive present indicative past participle
    vóórkomen kom voor voorgekomen
    voorkómen voorkom voorkomen
    óverwerken werk over overgewerkt
    overwérken overwerk overwerkt

    Imperative

    The imperative mood has only one form in singular an one in plural. The singular form is the same as the first person present singular, the plural form is the third person. The plural is not often used. 

     There is no object in the imperative. 
         Example: Loop! (walk! singular)
                  Loopt! (walk! plural)

    The imperatives of 'zijn' and 'wezen' are: 'wees!', 'weest!'

    Subjunctive

    The verb does not change in the subjunctive mood, the conjugation is like the indicative. The word order in the sentence does change. 

                             Indicative: Object-Predicate-Subject etc.
                         Subjunctive: Predicate-Object-Subject etc.?

    Verblists

    Paralleltexts

    References