Dutch grammar
14 guides that take you from the sounds of Dutch to its tenses, in the order we would read them — the rules the Taalunie’s grammar describes, tables you can learn from, and example sentences.
Sounds and spelling
- Dutch pronunciation: g, ui, ij and the long and short vowels (with audio)
The sounds of Dutch — the throaty g, ui, ij, eu, long and short vowels — each with a recording, and the spelling that tells you which one is meant.
- Dutch spelling rules: maken but maak, katten, brieven — and d or t
Why it is maken but maak, katten but kat, brieven but brief: the four Dutch spelling rules behind verbs, plurals and adjectives, and the d-or-t rule.
Nouns and adjectives
- De or het? How to know the Dutch article
De or het: the rules that work (plurals, diminutives, -ing, people), what changes with the article, and how to learn the rest — with examples.
- Dutch plurals and diminutives: -en, -s, kinderen — and -je, -tje, -pje
Most Dutch plurals end in -en, many in -s, a few change inside (kinderen, steden). And the diminutive -je, -tje, -pje, -etje, which makes every noun het.
- Dutch adjective endings: groot or grote?
An adjective before a noun gets -e — except before a het-word with een, geen or no article. After the noun it never changes. The rule in one table.
The sentence
- Dutch personal pronouns: ik, jij or je, u, hij, zij, ze — and je or u
The Dutch personal pronouns with their short, object and possessive forms — and when to say je and when u, with the verbs that go with them.
- Dutch word order: verb second, verb last
The verb comes second in a Dutch sentence; after omdat, dat and als it goes to the end; infinitives and participles wait at the end. Three rules, examples.
- Asking questions in Dutch: wie, wat, waar, wanneer, hoe, waarom
Yes-no questions with the verb first, the question words, the dropped -t with jij, polite questions with kunnen, mogen and zou, and indirect questions.
- Niet or geen? Negation in Dutch
Geen for a noun with een or no article, niet for everything else — where niet goes in the sentence, with nooit, niemand, niets, nergens and nog niet.
Verbs and tenses
- The Dutch present tense: conjugation, spelling and d or t
The Dutch present in one table — stem, stem + t, infinitive — plus the spelling changes, the d-or-t rule and the irregular zijn, hebben, gaan, kunnen.
- The Dutch perfect tense: hebben or zijn, ge-…-t or ge-…-d
The everyday Dutch past: hebben or zijn + a past participle. ’t kofschip, the verbs that take zijn, participles without ge- and the strong verbs to learn.
- The Dutch simple past: -te or -de, and the strong verbs
Werkte or woonde? The Dutch simple past with -te or -de, the strong verbs that change their vowel (ging, kwam, zag), and when to use it.
- Dutch modal verbs: kunnen, moeten, willen, mogen, zullen
Kunnen, moeten, willen, mogen and zullen: the irregular present, the infinitive at the end, zou for polite requests, hoeven and the double infinitive.
- Dutch separable verbs: opstaan, aanmelden, invullen
Verbs whose prefix breaks off and goes to the end — ik sta op, ik meld me aan. When they split, when they stay together, and how to spot them.
Verb tables
Every tense of 212 Dutch verbs, each with a recording of the infinitive. Start with these:
Check your level
A1–B224 questions from A1 to B2 — about 8 minutes, free, no sign-up.Questions
Is Dutch grammar hard?
Less than it looks: verbs have few endings, and a handful of rules — the verb in second place, de or het, the adjective -e — cover most sentences. The guides below take them one at a time.
What is the difference between de and het?
De is for common-gender nouns and all plurals, het for neuter nouns. Diminutives are always het; words in -ing are always de. Learn each noun with its article.
Where does the verb go in Dutch?
Second in a main clause (Morgen ga ik), at the end in a subordinate clause (omdat ik ga), and infinitives and participles at the end of their clause (Ik wil gaan. Ik ben gegaan).
Hebben or zijn in the past?
Most verbs take hebben; verbs of movement to a place or change of state take zijn: ik heb gewerkt, ik ben gegaan.
More Dutch
- All free Dutch resources
- Phrasebook: everyday phrases with audio
- The inburgering exams explained
- The writing exam: where the grammar counts
Grammar sticks when you use it
16Word makes you recall Dutch words and sentences every day, with audio, spaced review and a Blocks game between answers. Free to start.