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Table of contents
INTRODUCTION TO DUTCH GRAMMAR
7
Learning Dutch grammar............................................................................................ 7
Using this reference .................................................................................................... 7
SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION
8
The Dutch alphabet ............................................................................................................... 9
The Letter IJ.............................................................................................................. 10
Syllables .............................................................................................................................. 11
Four syllable rules..................................................................................................... 11
The combination ‘ch’................................................................................................ 13
Word division into syllables: Prefixes and suffixes.................................................. 14
Dieresis: Breaking up a word between two vowels .................................................. 15
Long vowels ........................................................................................................................ 16
Double vowels .......................................................................................................... 16
Open single vowels ................................................................................................... 17
Vowel combinations ................................................................................................. 18
Short vowels........................................................................................................................ 21
Figuring out whether a vowel is short or long .......................................................... 21
Pronouncing short vowels......................................................................................... 21
Vowels preceding ‘ch’ .............................................................................................. 22
The letter ‘e’........................................................................................................................ 23
The ‘mute e’ (or ‘schwa’) ......................................................................................... 23
Double ee .................................................................................................................. 24
Maintaining vowel length ................................................................................................... 25
Keeping vowels long................................................................................................. 25
Keeping vowels short................................................................................................ 26
Consonants .......................................................................................................................... 27
Consonant combinations........................................................................................... 30
Voiced and unvoiced consonants.............................................................................. 30
Irregular pronunciation........................................................................................................ 32
Accents and apostrophes ..................................................................................................... 34
Accent aigu ............................................................................................................... 34
Apostrophe................................................................................................................ 36
Summary ............................................................................................................................. 38
DUTCH VERBS
39
Conjugating regular verbs ................................................................................................... 40
The verb stem............................................................................................................ 41
Stem rule 1 ................................................................................................................ 41
Stem rule 2 ................................................................................................................ 42
Stem rule 3 ................................................................................................................ 43
Stem rule 4 ................................................................................................................ 43
Conjugation of the simple present tense ................................................................... 44
Using the simple present tense.................................................................................. 46
T and D verbs............................................................................................................ 48
Conjugation of the simple past tense ........................................................................ 49
Using the simple past tense....................................................................................... 51
The past participle..................................................................................................... 53
Conjugation of the present perfect tense................................................................... 54
Using the present perfect tense ................................................................................. 55
Conjugation of the pluperfect tense .......................................................................... 56
Using the pluperfect.................................................................................................. 57
Conjugation of the simple future tense ..................................................................... 57
Using the simple future............................................................................................. 58
Conjugation of the future perfect tense..................................................................... 60
Using the future perfect tense ................................................................................... 61
Conjugation of the conditional tense (or ‘past future tense’).................................... 62
Using the conditional tense....................................................................................... 63
Conjugation of the conditional perfect (or ‘past future perfect’).............................. 65
Using the conditional perfect .................................................................................... 66
Summarizing the regular verb conjugations ............................................................. 68
Other conjugations .............................................................................................................. 70
The aan het continuous............................................................................................. 70
The perfect tense of the aan het continuous ............................................................. 72
The te-continuous...................................................................................................... 73
Passive voice............................................................................................................. 74
The imperative .......................................................................................................... 75
The subjunctive......................................................................................................... 77
The verb as an adjective: Present participle and ‘verbable’...................................... 78
Gerund: The verb as a noun ...................................................................................... 80
Summary ................................................................................................................... 80
Irregular verbs ..................................................................................................................... 82
Strong verbs (partly irregular) .................................................................................. 82
Completely irregular verbs ....................................................................................... 83
Zijn ............................................................................................................................ 84
Hebben ...................................................................................................................... 85
Zullen ........................................................................................................................ 86
Kunnen ...................................................................................................................... 86
Komen ....................................................................................................................... 87
Mogen ....................................................................................................................... 88
Gaan, slaan, staan, zien, and doen ........................................................................... 88
Auxiliary verbs.................................................................................................................... 93
Independent verbs ..................................................................................................... 93
Auxiliary verbs and the past participle ..................................................................... 94
Past participle: Hebben or zijn? ................................................................................ 95
Past participle turning into an infinitive.................................................................... 96
Te + infinitive............................................................................................................ 97
Te + infinitive: Te-continuous................................................................................... 98
Te + infinitive: the ‘verbable’ ................................................................................... 98
Te after durven, hoeven, hebben, and komen ............................................................ 99
Te + infinitive: Dat-verbs.......................................................................................... 99
Te + infinitive: om-verbs........................................................................................ 101
Te + infinitive after prepositions............................................................................. 102
Auxiliary verbs and the bare infinitive ................................................................... 103
Aan het + infinitive ................................................................................................. 104
Summary ................................................................................................................. 105
Compound verbs ............................................................................................................... 107
Noun-verbs.............................................................................................................. 107
Separable compound verbs ..................................................................................... 108
Separable verbs: Simple present and past tense...................................................... 109
Separable verbs: past participle .............................................................................. 109
Inseparable verbs .................................................................................................... 110
Separable or inseparable? ....................................................................................... 111
Prefixes that can be part of both separable and inseparable verbs .......................... 111
NOUNS AND ARTICLES
114
Articles .............................................................................................................................. 115
Definite articles....................................................................................................... 115
Definite article: Het................................................................................................. 116
Definite article: De.................................................................................................. 119
Indefinite article: Een.............................................................................................. 122
Using articles: Differences between Dutch and English......................................... 122
Plural nouns....................................................................................................................... 124
Plural nouns ending in -en ...................................................................................... 124
Plural nouns ending in -s......................................................................................... 125
Plural endings: -s or –en?........................................................................................ 126
Less common plural endings: -eren and -a ............................................................. 130
Irregular plurals....................................................................................................... 131
Diminutives ....................................................................................................................... 133
Diminutive endings................................................................................................. 133
Diminutive ending -tje ............................................................................................ 134
Diminutive ending -etje .......................................................................................... 136
Diminutive ending -pje ........................................................................................... 137
Diminutive ending -kje ........................................................................................... 137
Irregular diminutives............................................................................................... 137
Summarizing the diminutives ................................................................................. 139
Compound nouns .............................................................................................................. 140
Connectors .............................................................................................................. 141
Connectors –e and -en............................................................................................. 141
Connector -s ............................................................................................................ 143
Connector -er .......................................................................................................... 144
No connector........................................................................................................... 145
PRONOUNS
146
Pronominal adverbs........................................................................................................... 147
The Dutch pronominal adverb ................................................................................ 148
List of Dutch pronominal adverbs .......................................................................... 149
Personal pronouns ............................................................................................................. 150
Subject pronouns..................................................................................................... 150
Using marked subject pronouns.............................................................................. 153
Het is and het zijn (“it is” and “it are”) ................................................................... 155
Object pronouns ...................................................................................................... 156
Using marked object pronouns ............................................................................... 158
Them: hen or hun? .................................................................................................. 160
Colloquial subject and object pronouns .................................................................. 160
Pronominal adverb: Het/hem/ze turning into er...................................................... 162
Possessive pronouns.......................................................................................................... 164
Independent possessives ......................................................................................... 166
Alternative possessive............................................................................................. 168
Possessive names and nouns ................................................................................... 170
Colloquial possessive pronouns.............................................................................. 171
Reflexive pronouns ........................................................................................................... 172
Reciprocal pronouns.......................................................................................................... 174
Interrogative pronouns ...................................................................................................... 175
Demonstrative pronouns dit, deze, die, and dat ................................................................ 178
Dependent demonstrative pronouns........................................................................ 178
Independent demonstrative pronouns ..................................................................... 180
Dit is and dit zijn (‘this is’ and ‘this are’) ............................................................... 183
Pronominal adverbs: Demonstratives turning into hier/daar.................................. 184
Summarizing dit, dat, deze, and die ........................................................................ 186
More demonstratives ......................................................................................................... 187
‘That which’ and ‘the person who’: Datgene and diegene ..................................... 187
‘Such’: Zo’n, zulke, and dergelijk(e)....................................................................... 190
‘Such’ (formal use): Dusdanig and zodanig ........................................................... 191
‘The same’: dezelfde and hetzelfde ......................................................................... 192
Summary ................................................................................................................. 194
Relative pronouns.............................................................................................................. 196
Dat (that, which) ..................................................................................................... 197
Die (that, which, who) ............................................................................................ 199
Wat (that, what, which)........................................................................................... 200
Wie (who, whom).................................................................................................... 202
Wiens and wier (whose) .......................................................................................... 203
Indefinite pronouns ........................................................................................................... 205
Collective indefinite pronouns................................................................................ 205
Alles and iedereen (everything and everyone)........................................................ 206
Al, alle, allen, and allemaal (all)............................................................................. 208
Elk and ieder (each and every)................................................................................ 211
Iets and niets (something and nothing) ................................................................... 213
Iemand and niemand (someone and noone)............................................................ 214
Beide and allebei (both) .......................................................................................... 215
Men (they, one) ....................................................................................................... 218
Sommige (some, certain)......................................................................................... 219
Summarizing indefinite pronouns........................................................................... 220
Indefinite numbers ............................................................................................................ 222
Small amounts......................................................................................................... 222
Several .................................................................................................................... 225
Few and many ......................................................................................................... 226
Summary ................................................................................................................. 229
Exclamative pronouns....................................................................................................... 230
WORD ORDER
232
The three parts of a main clause........................................................................................ 233
Overview of the main clause................................................................................... 233
The left part ....................................................................................................................... 235
The finite formation ................................................................................................ 235
Reflexive pronoun................................................................................................... 236
The reduced indirect object..................................................................................... 238
The reduced direct object........................................................................................ 239
The middle part ................................................................................................................. 241
Er, hier, and daar (EHD) ......................................................................................... 241
Time ........................................................................................................................ 244
Manner .................................................................................................................... 246
Place........................................................................................................................ 247
Direct object............................................................................................................ 249
The right part of a sentence ............................................................................................... 255
The other verbs ....................................................................................................... 255
The prefix of a separable compound verb............................................................... 257
The miscellaneous box............................................................................................ 259
The postposition...................................................................................................... 260
Indirect object ......................................................................................................... 262
The complement...................................................................................................... 264
Link verbs ............................................................................................................... 267
Place of the direct object......................................................................................... 269
Prepositional phrase ................................................................................................ 270
Negating sentences............................................................................................................ 271
The use of geen in negating sentences .................................................................... 275
Questions........................................................................................................................... 276
Closed questions ..................................................................................................... 276
Open questions........................................................................................................ 277
Types of clauses ................................................................................................................ 282
The co-ordinating clause......................................................................................... 284
The subordinate clause............................................................................................ 286
Subclause and main clause compared..................................................................... 286
Word order of ‘all verbs’ in a subclause ................................................................. 288
Separable verbs in a subordinate clause.................................................................. 289
Subordinating conjunctions .................................................................................... 290
Relative clause ........................................................................................................ 291
Short subclauses...................................................................................................... 294
Other shortcuts ........................................................................................................ 295
A funny word: ‘er’ ............................................................................................................ 300
Locative er: unstressed daar................................................................................... 300
Er replacing het, hem (it) or ze (them) .................................................................... 301
Er in the sense of ‘of it’ or ‘of them‘ ...................................................................... 302
Extra er at the beginning of a sentence ................................................................... 303
Er as a subject ......................................................................................................... 306
Er or het as a subject? ............................................................................................. 308
Word order for the advanced............................................................................................. 309
How flexible is a Dutch sentence?.......................................................................... 309
Components allowed before the left side................................................................ 311
Components that are allowed after the right side.................................................... 315
Combining the two.................................................................................................. 317
Conclusion......................................................................................................................... 319
APPENDIXES
320
Appendix A: List of strong verbs...................................................................................... 321
Appendix B: Strong verbs by conjugation pattern ............................................................ 329
Appendix C: List of ‘te-verbs’ .......................................................................................... 332
Appendix E: Noun verbs................................................................................................... 334
Appendix F: Commonly used separable verbs.................................................................. 335
Appendix G: List of inseparable verbs - exceptions ......................................................... 336
Appendix H: List of separable mis- and vol-verbs ............................................................ 342
Appendix I: List of phrasal verbs...................................................................................... 343
Appendix J: Diminutives checklist ................................................................................... 346
Appendix K: Dutch grammar glossary.............................................................................. 350
INTRODUCTION
7
INTRODUCTION TO DUTCH GRAMMAR
Approximately 23 million people in Belgium and the Netherlands have Dutch as their mother
tongue, which makes Dutch the seventh language in the European Union. The variety of Dutch
spoken in Flanders (northern Belgium) is sometimes referred to as Flemish, although the extent
to which Flemish and Dutch differ is a much-debated issue. Dutch is also the official language of
Surinam. Dutch is a Germanic language, which means it has a lot in common with languages like
German, English, Danish, and Swedish.
Learning Dutch grammar
Dutch spelling is quite easy compared to many other languages because it is based on a bunch of
basic principles. The same goes for the conjugation of Dutch regular verbs. Once you know the
conjugation rules, you can conjugate any Dutch verb. Irregular verbs, however, must be learned
by heart. There are three articles to learn: the indefinite article een (a) and the definite articles de
and het (the). Those who have studied German, Russian, or Latin will be delighted to learn that
the Dutch language does not have a case system. This means that you do not need to use
different articles or adjectives for subjects and objects. Adjectives are only inflected according to
the type of noun they precede (de or het-noun).
The hardest part of Dutch grammar is the word order. There are general guidelines for producing
a sound Dutch sentence but the easiest way to master it is to read a lot of Dutch. Another hurdle
for Dutch learners is the pronunciation. Just how difficult you find it depends on where you
come from. The guttural g is easier for Spanish or Arabic speakers than for English or Japanese
speakers. But Dutch learners almost unanimously agree that ui and eu are by far the most
difficult sounds to master. The key to getting familiar with the Dutch sounds is exposure. Mix
with Dutch speakers or immerse yourself in Dutch audio books, internet radio, and Dutch videos.
Using this reference
This grammar reference serves as an aid to learning the Dutch language in that it provides you
with an overview of the grammar rules. However, you will have to look actively for
opportunities to practice your skills. Visit The Dutch Grammar forum
(www.dutchgrammar.com/forum/) to get in touch with Dutch speakers or to try the exercises
made by native and non-native speakers, listen to the podcasts (and download all mp3 sound files
for the grammar pages!) in the audio section
(www.dutchgrammar.com/en/?n=Audio.HomePage), and check out the links on the links page
(www.dutchgrammar.com/en/Links/) for other online resources.
All original content @ 2008 Bieneke Berendsen