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

All original content @ 2008 Bieneke Berendsen

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.