Knowing some of the Dutch grammar will help you understand how the language is build up, and it will also help you to understand the
basic phrases better. The Dutch grammar guide presented at LanguageTrav.com should in no way be considered as complete, and if you would
like to acquire an in-depth understanding we recomment you to purchase books or DVDs for further learning.
The good news is that especially when you are traveling to The Netherlands, virtually everyone will speak English as a second language.
However, it is a polite gesture to ask first.
The verb "to be":
The verb to be is an irregular verb. In Dutch it is used:
- to state who you are (what your name is), - to state
how old you are, - to express a feeling or a physical state, - to
state a profession, - in combination with other verbs for grammatical
purposes.
All verbs are always used in combination with the
appropriate pronouns, which are placed in front of the verb. The simple
present and past tenses together with their pronouns are displayed below:
present tense:
Dutch (zijn)
English (to be)
ik ben
I am
jij bent
you are (second person singular, informal /
familiar)
u bent
you are (second person singular, formal)
hij/zij/het is
he/she/it is
wij zijn
we are
jullie zijn
you are (second person plural)
zij zijn
they are
Past tense:
Dutch (zijn)
English (to be)
ik was
I was
jij was
you were (second person singular, informal /
familiar)
u was
you were (second person singular, formal)
hij/zij/het was
he/she/it was
wij waren
we were
jullie waren
you were (second person plural)
zij waren
they were
The verb "to have":
The verb to have is used to express possessions. Furthermore it
is also used in grammatical constructions. The tables below illustrate the
verb in the simple present and past tenses:
present tense:
Dutch (hebben)
English (to have)
ik heb
I have
jij hebt
you have (second person singular, informal /
familiar)
u hebt/heeft
you have (second person singular, formal)
hij/zij/het heeft
he/she/it heeft
wij hebben
we have
jullie hebben
you have (second person plural)
zij hebben
they have
Past tense:
Dutch (hebben)
English (to have)
ik had
I had
jij had
you had (second person singular, informal /
familiar)
u had
you had (second person singular, formal)
hij/zij/het had
he/she/it had
wij hadden
we had
jullie hadden
you had (second person plural)
zij hadden
they had
It is important to notice that in the present tense, the pronoun
u can take both hebt and heeft. You can use them as
you like.