The pattern
Words and endings come easily. Your real effort goes into word order, de or het, and a few sounds.
- Easy: shared words such as water, hand, bed and warm.
- Easy: no case endings (endings that mark subject or object): de man stays de man.
- Fairly easy: present-tense verbs. Most add -t for jij and hij; the plural is the dictionary form: ik werk, hij werkt, wij werken. When jij comes right after the verb, drop the -t: werk jij?
- Hard: word order. In a statement, the working verb (the one that changes for the person) comes second; a second verb usually goes to the end. Yes-or-no questions and commands normally start with the verb.
- Hard: de or het, and sounds such as g, ui and eu.
Examples
| Het water is warm. | The water is warm. |
| Werk jij morgen? | Are you working tomorrow? |
| Vandaag werkt Sanne thuis. | Sanne is working from home today. |
| Fatima wil een fiets kopen. | Fatima wants to buy a bike. |
| Ik zie de man. De man ziet mij. | I see the man. The man sees me. |
| De trein is laat en het weer is koud. | The train is late and the weather is cold. |
Why it works this way
Dutch and English share old roots, and both lost most case endings on nouns long ago. Pronouns still change, as in English: ik and mij work like I and me.
English keeps a trace of the verb-second rule in "Here comes the bus". Dutch does this all the time: start a statement with vandaag, and the subject moves behind the verb.
De and het follow no reliable meaning, so learn each noun with its article (more in de and het).
The g in goed is a rough throat sound, like the "ch" in Scottish "loch" (softer in the south). Ui in huis and eu in leuk have no English twin; see vowel pairs. Vowel length changes meaning: man is a man, maan is the moon.
Remember: in a statement, the working verb sits in seat two, and extra verbs ride at the back.
Watch out
NotVandaag ik werk thuis.
SayVandaag werk ik thuis.
the verb comes second
NotIk wil kopen een fiets.
SayIk wil een fiets kopen.
the second verb goes to the end
NotHij werk in Amsterdam.
SayHij werkt in Amsterdam.
hij needs -t
Notde huis
Sayhet huis
huis takes het
Quick check
- Fill in the right form of werken: Lotte ... bij de supermarkt.
- Choose: Morgen (ik ga / ga ik) naar de huisarts.
- Fix the sentence: Ahmed wil drinken koffie.
- Fill in de or het: ... huis van Priya is klein.
Show the answers
- werkt (a name works like hij or zij, so add -t)
- ga ik (after Morgen, the verb comes second)
- Ahmed wil koffie drinken. (the second verb goes to the end)
- Het (huis takes het)
Use it today
At the supermarket, find three products with English-looking names, like de melk, and say them with their article. Then say one sentence about your day that starts with Vandaag.