Dutch II Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar
| Singular | Plural | ||
| mijn (m'n) jouw (je) uw |
my your (informal) your (formal) |
ons / onze jullie (je) uw |
our your (informal) your (formal) |
| zijn (z'n) haar zijn (z'n) |
his her its |
hun | their |
Ons is used before singular neuter/het nouns, and onze is used elsewhere (before singular common/de nouns, and all plural nouns.) Je, the unstressed form of jouw, is commonly used in spoken and written Dutch, unless the speaker/writer wants to stress the pronoun. In the plural, jullie is the norm, unless jullie has already been used in the sentence, then je is used to avoid the redundancy. The other unstressed forms are not commonly written in the standard language, but are commonly spoken and written in informal communication.
Like in English, Dutch possessive adjectives are used in front of a noun to show possession: mijn boek (my book). There are a few ways to express the -'s used in English too. -s can be added to proper names and members of the family: Jans boek (John's book) The preposition van can be used to mean of: het boek van Jan (the book of John = John's book) And in more colloquial speech, the unstressed forms in parentheses above (agreeing in gender and number) can be used in place of the -s: Jan z'n boek (John's book)
To form the possessive pronouns, add -e to the stressed forms (except for jullie) and use the correct article. The only way to show possession with jullie is to use van jou (literally meaning "of you"), although all the others can be used with van too.
de/het mijne, jouwe, uwe, zijne, hare, onze, hunne (mine, yours, yours, his/its, hers, ours, theirs)
| doen - to do | maken - to make | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| doe | doo | doen | doon | maak | mahk | maken | mah-kuh |
| doet | doot | doen | doon | maakt | mahkt | maken | mah-kuh |
| doet | doot | doen | doon | maakt | mahkt | maken | mah-kuh |
Expressions with doen:
doen alsof - to act as though
doen denken aan - to remind of
dichtdoen - to close
opendoen - to open
pijndoen - to hurt, cause pain
| male | female (if different from male) | |
| actor | acteur | actrice |
| actor (stage) | toneelspeler | toneelspeelster |
| author/writer | schrijver | schrifster |
| baker | bakker | bakster |
| bookkeeper | boekhouder | boekhoudster |
| bookseller | boekhandelaar | boekhandelaarster |
| butcher | slager | |
| cashier | kassajongen | kassameisje |
| dentist | tandarts | |
| doctor | dokter | |
| engineer | ingenieur | |
| hairdresser | kapper | kapster |
| journalist | journalist | journaliste |
| judge | rechter | |
| lawyer | advocaat | |
| mail man | postbode | |
| mechanic | monteur | |
| musician | muzikant | muzikante |
| nurse | verpleger | verpleegster |
| office worker | kantoormedewerker | kantoormedewerkster |
| officer | officier | |
| painter | schilder | schilderes |
| photographer | fotograaf | fotografe |
| salesperson | verkoper | verkoopster |
| secretary | secretaris | secretaresse |
| singer | zanger | zangeres |
| soldier | soldaat | |
| surgeon | chirurg | |
| teacher | leraar | lerares |
| about | over | in | in, over (used with time) |
| above / over | boven / over | in front of | voor |
| according to | volgens | inside / within | binnen |
| after | na | in spite of | ondanks |
| against | tegen | near | bij |
| along | langs | next to | naast |
| around | rond(om) | of | van |
| at | bij, om, aan | on top of / on | op / aan |
| because of | vanwege | opposite | tegenover |
| before | voor | out (of) | uit |
| behind | achter | since | sinds, sedert |
| between | tussen | through | door |
| by | met, door | to | aan, naar(toe) (direction towards something) |
| during | gedurende, tijdens | under | onder |
| except for | behalve voor | until | tot, totdat |
| for | voor | with | met |
| from | van, uit, vandaan | without | zonder |
At translates as bij when it's a personal location, such as ik ben bij Jan (I'm at Johns place/I am with John). Om refers to time: om 12 uur (at noon); and aan refers to an impersonal location: aan tafel (at the table). By is met in the sense of ik doe het met de hand (I do it by hand) or ik ga met het vliegtuig (I go by plane). From is van when it refers to a person, een kado van jou (a gift from you); and uit when it is a location, ik kom uit Japan (I come from Japan.) Vandaan indicates from where, as in waar kom jij vandaan (where are you from?)
25. Countries and Nationalities 
| Country | Nationality (masc. / fem.) | |
| Africa | Afrika | Afrikaan / Afrikaanse |
| America | Amerika | Amerikaan / Amerikaanse |
| Argentina | Argentinië | Argentijn / Argentijnse |
| Asia | Azië | Aziaat |
| Austria | Oostenrijk | Oostenrijker / Oostenrijkse |
| Belgium | België | Belg / Belgische |
| Brazil | Brazili | Braziliaan / Braziliaanse |
| China | China | Chinees / Chinese |
| Denmark | Denemarken | Deen / Deense |
| England | Engeland | Engelsman / Engelse |
| Europe | Europa | Europeaan |
| France | Frankrijk | Fransman / Française |
| Germany | Duitsland | Duitser / Duitse |
| Great Britain | Groot Brittani | Brit / Britse |
| Greece | Griekenland | Griek / Griekse |
| Holland | Holland | Hollander / Hollandse |
| Hungary | Hongarije | Hongaar / Hongaarse |
| India | India | Indir / Indische |
| Ireland | Ierland | Ier / Ierse |
| Italy | Italië | Italiaan / Italiaanse |
| Japan | Japan | Japanner / Japanse |
| Netherlands | Nederland | Nederlander / Nederlandse |
| Norway | Noorwegen | Noor / Noorse |
| Poland | Polen | Pool / Poolse |
| Portugal | Portugal | Portugees / Portugese |
| Russia | Rusland | Rus / Russin |
| Spain | Spanje | Spanjaard / Spaanse |
| Sweden | Zweden | Zweed / Zweedse |
| Switzerland | Zwitserland | Zwitser / Zwitserse |
| Turkey | Turkije | Turk / Turkse |
| United States | Verenigde Staten | Amerikaan / Amerikaanse |
The feminine form of many occupations and nationalities is indicated by one of five endings. For most nationalities, -e is added, as in Nederlandse (Dutch woman). The endings -in, -es, -esse and -ster are also used to form female counterparts. -ster is added to verbs while -esse replaces the -is ending of some nouns.
| boer - boerin (farmer - female farmer/farmer's
wife) leeuw - leeuwin (lion - lioness) koning - koningin (king - queen) Rus - Russin (Russian man - Russian woman) leraar - lerares (male teacher - female teacher) prins - prinses (prince - princess) |
student - studente (male student - female student) secretaris - secretaresse (male secretary - female secretary) bibliothekaris - bibliothekaresse (male librarian - female librarian) schrijfer - scrijfster (write - female author) verpleeger - verpleegster (nurse - female nurse) |
The word niet (not) is used to negate sentences, and is generally placed at the end of the clause. However, niet precedes a preposition, an adjective that follows a noun, and the words binnen (inside), buiten (outside), beneden (downstairs), boven (upstairs) and thuis (at home).
Een is usually not preceded by niet or any phrase ending with niet (ook niet - not either, nog niet - not yet). Instead, geen, ook geen and nog geen replace the article. Geen is translated by not a, not any or no when followed by a noun in English. Geen also negates nouns that cannot be counted, such as water, bier and wijn.
Jan leest niet. Jan does not read.
Hij werkt volgende week ook niet. He is not working next week either.
Ik wil geen kopje koffie. I don't want a cup of coffee.
Zij hebben nog geen huis gevonden. They have not found a house
yet.
| komen - to come | gaan - to go | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kom | kawm | komen | koh-muh | ga | gah | gaan | gahn |
| komt | kawmt | komen | koh-muh | gaat | gaht | gaan | gahn |
| komt | kawmt | komen | koh-muh | gaat | gaht | gaan | gahn |
Expressions with komen and gaan:
Hoe komt het dat.. ? How is it that.. ?
Hoe gaat het met u? How are you?
Het gaat goed met me. I am fine.
gaan zitten - to sit down, be seated
28. To and From Countries and Cities
| to from |
naar uit |
Ik kom uit Nederland. I come from the Netherlands.
Zij gaat naar New York. She's going to New York.
English has three ways of expressing the present tense, such as I run, I am running, I do run. All three of these tenses are translated as one tense in Dutch. Most verbs are regular in Dutch in the present tense, and it is formed by using the verb stem (the infinitive minus the -en), and adding these endings (Note that there is no ending for the first person singular form, and all the plural forms are identical to the infinitive):
| Verb endings | drinken - to drink | ||
| - -t -t |
-en -en -en |
drink drinkt drinkt |
drinken drinken drinken |
There is, however, an alternative present tense to express an action that is currently happening: use zijn aan het with the infinitive. Ik ben aan het koken would translate as I am cooking (right now.)
The perfect tense in English of expressions of "for," "since"
and "how long?" are rendered by the present tense in Dutch:
Ik woon hier al vijf jaar. I have lived here for five years.
Hij werkt sinds april met zijn broer. He has been working with
his brother since April.
Graag is an adverb used with verbs to express "to like to.." instead of using the verb houden van, which literally means to like or love.
To form questions, simply invert the subject and verb. For the second person singular form (jij), the -t ending of the conjugated verb is dropped. Dutch does not have an equivalent of the English "do" in questions, so Woon jij in Rotterdam? means Do you live in Rotterdam? although it literally is Live you in Rotterdam?
30. Irregularities in Regular verbs
When you add the present tense endings, you must observe the regular spelling rules in Dutch. Words with long vowels (aa, ee, oo, and uu) drop the one vowel when another syllable is added. Words with the short vowels (a, e, i, o and u) double the following consonant to keep the vowels short. The letters f and s occur at the end of words or before consonants, while the letters v and z occur in the middle of words before vowels. Notice how the infinitive is still identical to the plural conjugations for wij, jullie, and zij, and the stem is identical to the ik form.
| Infinitive |
|
Stem & ik form |
jij, hij, etc. |
wij, jullie, etc. |
| betalen blijven hopen raden geloven schrijven kiezen haten leven lezen praten rijden wassen gaan staan slaan |
to pay to stay to hope to guess to believe to write to choose to hate to live to read to talk to ride to wash to go to stand to hit |
betaal blijf hoop raad geloof schrijf kies haat leef lees praat rijd was ga sta sla |
betaalt blijft hoopt raadt gelooft schrijft kiest haat leeft leest praat rijdt wast gaat staat slaat |
betalen blijven hopen raden geloven schrijven kiezen haten leven lezen praten rijden wassen gaan staan slaan |
One verb that does not follow the spelling rule is komen. The singular forms are all written and pronounced with the short o, while the plural forms are written and pronounced with the long o: kom, komt and komen. (According to the spelling rules, the singular forms should be the long o, but they are not.)
There are five verbs whose ending is only -n: gaan (to go), staan (to stand), slaan (to hit), doen (to do) and zien (to see); the first three change according to the spelling rules.
If a stem ends in -t, you do not add another -t for the second and third person singular forms. zitten - to sit; hij zit - he sits
Verb stems that end in -oud and -ijd drop the -d in the first person singular and in question forms of the second person singular form. The -d can be written, but it is not pronounced. rijden - to ride; ik rij(d) - I ride; rij(d) jij? - do you ride?
In Dutch, there are four modals: kunnen - to be able to, can; moeten - to have to, must; mogen - to be allowed to, may; and willen - to want to. Modals can be used with other infinitives without the use of prepositions.
| kunnen | moeten | mogen | willen | |
| ik jij / u hij / zij / het wij jullie zij |
kan kan / kunt kan kunnen kunnen kunnen |
moet moet moet moeten moeten moeten |
mag mag mag mogen mogen mogen |
wil wil / wilt wil willen willen willen |
The -t of kunt and wilt are dropped in inversions with jij, but not with moet. Kan and kunt are used interchangeably for the second person singular form of kunnen, so jij kan and jij kunt as well as jij wil and jij wilt are both possible. The main difference is that kan and wil are considered slightly more informal with jij than kunt or wilt.
Common verbs, such as doen and gaan, can be omitted in Dutch after modals, but not in the English translation. In addition, impersonal constructions with het/dat + modals are used.
Dat kan. That's possible/can
be done.
Het moet. It must be done.
When modals are used with other verbs, the other verb is in the infinitive and placed at the end of the clause or sentence.
Reflexive verbs express an action that reciprocates back to the subject. In other words, whoever is speaking is doing an action to himself. Examples in English would be: I wash myself, he hurts himself, we hate ourselves. The reflexive pronouns always follow the subject and verb.
Reflexive Pronouns
| me je / u zich |
ons je zich |
The reflexive pronoun u is often replaced by zich to avoid the double occurrence of u.
Verbs that are always reflexive:
| zich afvragen zich bevinden zich ergeren zich gedragen zich generen zich haasten zich herinneren zich herstellen zich schamen voor zich vergissen in zich verheugen op zich verslapen zich voorstellen |
ask oneself find oneself get annoyed by behave be embarrassed hurry remember recover be ashamed of be mistaken about look forward to oversleep imagine, introduce oneself |
Verbs that can be reflexive or used with other direct objects
| aankleden amuseren bewegen ergeren opwinden scheren snijden uitkleden verbazen verdedigen verkleden verontschuldigen verschuilen vervelen voelen wassen |
get dressed enjoy oneself move make angry get excited shave (oneself) cut oneself undress (oneself) be amazed defend oneself change clothes excuse oneself/apologize hide (oneself) to be bored feel wash (oneself) |
Emphatic Forms
| mezelf jezelf zichzelf |
onszelf jezelf zichzelf |
The emphatic forms of the reflexive pronouns can only be used with the verbs that can be reflexive or used with other direct objects, and never with verbs that are always reflexive.
Elkaar is used when there is a reciprocal meaning of "each other" in English.
33. Verbs followed by Prepositions
| afhangen van | depend on |
| bang zijn voor | be afraid of |
| deelnemen aan | take part in |
| denken aan | think of/about |
| feliciteren met | congratulate on |
| gebrek hebben aan | be short of |
| herinneren aan | remind |
| houden van | like, love (things or people) |
| huilen om | cry at/about |
| kijken naar | look at/watch |
| lachen om | laugh at |
| letten op | pay attention to |
| lijden aan | suffer from |
| luisteren naar | listen to |
| praten/spreken met | talk to |
| reageren op | react to |
| rekenen op | rely on |
| sterven aan | die of |
| trek/zin hebben in | want |
| trouwen met | marry |
| twijfelen aan | doubt |
| vragen om | ask for |
| weten van | know about |
| zeggen tegen | say to |
| zorgen voor | care for |
| aan- | af- | binnen- | in- | na- | onder- | over- | toe- | voor- |
| achter- | bij- | door- | mee- | om- | op- | tegen- | uit- | -weg |
When verbs with separable prefixes are conjugated, the prefixes go to the end of the clause or sentence. For example, uitgaan (to go out) and weggaan (to go away):
Gaan jullie niet meer uit? Don't you go out anymore?
Hij gaat vandaag weg. He's going away today.
| be- | ont- | ge- |
| her- | ver- | er- |
These prefixes always remain attached to their infinitives. The inseparable prefixes are unstressed syllables, as compared to the separable prefixes, of which most can stand alone as prepositions. -ann, -onder, -over, -door, -voor and -om can also be inseparable prefixes if they are unstressed.
36. Present Perfect or Past Indefinite Tense
This tense is used more often than the simple past, especially in conversation, and is equivalent to I have asked or I asked. Regular verbs use a form of hebben or zijn and a past participle. Past participles are made by adding ge- to the beginning of the verb stem and -t or -d to the end. Verb stems are the infinitives minus the -en, with the appropriate spelling changes. The stems are identical to the first person singular present tense form.
-t is added to stems ending in t, k, f, s, ch, and p (note that if the stem ends in -t already, you do not double the consonant), while -d is added to all other stems, except those already ending in -d. (If a stem ends in -f or -s, but the infinitive contained -v or -z, then still add a -d)
Verbs with inseparable prefixes do not add ge- in this tense. Verbs with separable prefixes add the ge after the prefix and before the stem (afgemaakt).
| Verb | Stem | Past Participle | |
| hopen maken blaffen missen dromen bellen loven vrezen praten koken blaffen kuchen bouwen horen branden bedoelen bepraten geloven verhuizen afmaken |
to hope to make to bark to miss to dream to ring to praise to be afraid to talk to cook to bark to cough to build to hear to burn to mean to discuss to believe to move house to finish |
hoop maak blaf mis droom bel loof vrees praat kook blaf kuch bouw hoor brand bedoel bepraat geloof verhuis af...maak |
gehoopt gemaakt geblaft gemist gedroomd gebeld geloofd gevreesd gepraat gekookt geblaft gekucht gebouwd gehoord gebrand bedoeld bepraat geloofd verhuisd afgemaakt |
Hebben vs. Zijn
Some verbs of motion can take either hebben or zijn depending on whether
it is the action that is stressed (hebben) or the destination/direction
(zijn.) Verbs taking zijn are generally intransitive (they do not take
direct objects) and denote a change in motion/position or change in state/condition.
Most verbs derived from zijn verbs also take zijn in the perfect tense.
Modals
The past participles of the modals (kunnen: gekund; moeten: gemoeten;
mogen: gemoogd, willen: gewild) are only used when the modal
is used independently of another verb.
Ik heb het gemoeten. I had to (do it).
If the perfect tense of a modal is used with another verb,
then the past participle of the modal is replaced by its infinitive. This
double infinitive construction (infinitive of modal + other infinitive)
is always placed at the end of the clause or sentence.
Ik heb gisteren kunnen komen. I was able to come yesterday.
37. Irregular Past Participles
| Infinitive | Past Participle | Infinitive | Past Participle | ||
| begin | beginnen | begonnen | walk | lopen | gelopen |
| understand | begrijpen | begrepen | must, have to | moeten | gemoeten |
| offer | bieden | geboden | may | mogen | gemogen |
| remain | blijven | gebleven | call | roepen | geroepen |
| break | breken | gebroken | write | schrijven | geschreven |
| bring | brengen | gebracht | sleep | slapen | geslapen |
| think | denken | gedacht | hit | slaan | geslagen |
| do | doen | gedaan | stand | staan | gestaan |
| drink | drinken | gedronken | speak | spreken | gesproken |
| eat | eten | gegeten | die | sterven | gestorven |
| go | gaan | gegaan | forget | vergeten | vergeten |
| give | geven | gegeven | lose | verliezen | verloren |
| have | hebben | gehad | find | vinden | gevonden |
| help | helpen | geholpen | ask | vragen | gevraagd |
| be called | heten | geheten | know | weten | geweten |
| hold | houden | gehouden | show | wijzen | gewezen |
| look | kijken | gekeken | want | willen | gewild |
| come | komen | gekomen | become | worden | geworden |
| buy | kopen | gekocht | say | zeggen | gezegd |
| get | krijgen | gekregen | see | zien | gezien |
| can, be able to | kunnen | gekund | be | zijn | geweest |
| let | laten | gelaten | sing | zingen | gezongen |
| read | lezen | gelezen | sit | zitten | gezeten |
| lie | liggen | gelegen | look for | zoeken | gezocht |
A few common verbs take zijn instead of hebben in the present perfect tense:
| blijven blijken gaan gebeuren komen |
to stay to appear/seem to go to happen to come |
stoppen/ophouden verdwijnen verschijnen worden zijn |
to stop to disappear to appear to become to be |
| breakfast | ontbijt (n) | bread | brood (n) |
| lunch | middagmaal (n), lunch | pepper | peper |
| dinner | avondeten (n) | salt | zout (n) |
| glass | glas (n) | ice | ijs |
| fork | vork | vinegar | azijn |
| spoon | lepel | oil | olie |
| knife | mes (n) | sugar | suiker |
| napkin | servet (n) | butter | boter |
| plate | bord (n) | table | tafel |
| silverware | bestek (n) | dish | schotel |
| tea | thee | juice | sap |
| steak | biefstuk | water | water |
| cake | taart / cake / koek | wine | wijn |
| ice cream | roomijs (n) | beer | bier (n) |
| coffee | koffie | beverage | drank |
| pie | vlaai | milk | melk |
| mustard | mosterd | egg | ei (n) |
| rice | rijst |
honey | honing |
| jam | jam | snack | snack, tussendoortje |
| soup | soep | cheese | kaas |
| salad | salade | cookies | koekje |
40. Fruits, Vegetables and Meats
| fruit | vrucht | cabbage | kool |
| pineapple | ananas | pumpkin | pompoen |
| apple | appel | olive | olijf |
| apricot | abrikoos | radish | radijs |
| banana | banaan | lettuce | sla |
| pear | peer | tomato | tomaat |
| strawberry | aardbei | onion | ui |
| raspberry | framboos | meat | vlees (n) |
| cherry | kers | veal | kalfsvlees (n) |
| lime | limoen | lamb | lam (n) |
| lemon | citroen | beef | rundvlees (n) |
| orange | sinaasappel | ham | ham |
| peach | perzik | pork | varkensvlees (n) |
| grapes | druif | bacon | bacon |
| vegetables | groente | sausage | worst |
| cauliflower | bloemkool | poultry | pluimvee (n) |
| bean | boon | duck | eend |
| pea | erwt | goose | gans |
| cucumber | komkommer | chicken | kip |
| carrot | wortel, peen | turkey | kalkoen |
| potato | aardappel | fish | vis |
The National Anthem of the Netherlands: Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
By Marnix van St. Aldegonde (2 stanzas out of 15)
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe ben ik van Duitsen bloed
den vaderland getrouwe blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje heb ik altijd geëerd.
Mijn schild ende betrouwen zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen, verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik doch vroom mag blijven, uw dienaar t'aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven die mij mijn hert doorwondt.
William of Nassau am I, of Dutch blood;
True to the fatherland I remain until death.
Prince of Orange am I, free and fearless.
To the King of Spain I have always given honour.
You, my God and Lord, are my shield, on You I rely.
On You I will build; never leave me,
So that I may remain pious, your servant at all moments,
Dispelling the tyranny that wounds my heart.
The National Anthem of Belgium: De Brabançonne
By Alexandre Dechet, 1830
O dierbaar België
O heilig land der vaad'ren
Onze ziel en ons hart zijn u gewijd.
Aanvaard ons hart en het bloed van onze adren,
Wees ons doel in arbeid en in strijd.
Bloei, o land, in eendracht niet te breken;
Wees immer u zelf en ongeknecht,
Het woord getrouw, dat ge onbevreesd moogt spreken:
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht. (x3)
O beloved Belgium,
sacred land of our fathers,
Our heart and soul are dedicated to you.
Our strength and the blood of our veins we offer,
Be our goal, in work and battle.
Prosper, O country, in unbreakable unity,
Always be yourself and free.
Trust in the word that, undaunted, you can speak:
For King, for Freedom and for Law. (x3)
