Zijn Verbs

A few common verbs take zijn instead of hebben in the present perfect tense:

blijven blijken gaan gebeuren komen

to stay to appear/seem to go to happen to come

stoppen/ophouden verdwijnen verschijnen worden zijn

to stop to disappear to appear to become to be

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Conjugation Regular verbs

English has three ways of expressing the present tense, such as I run, I am running, I do run. All three of these tenses are translated as one tense in Dutch. Most verbs are regular in Dutch in the present tense, and it is formed by using the verb stem (the infinitive minus the -en), and adding these endings (Note that there is no ending for the first person singular form, and all the plural forms are identical to the infinitive):

Verb endings		drinken - to drink
- -t -t	-en -en -en	drink drinkt drinkt	drinken drinken drinken

There is, however, an alternative present tense to express an action that is currently happening: use zijn aan het with the infinitive. Ik ben aan het koken would translate as I am cooking (right now.)

The perfect tense in English of expressions of "for," "since" and "how long?" are rendered by the present tense in Dutch:
Ik woon hier al vijf jaar. I have lived here for five years.
Hij werkt sinds april met zijn broer. He has been working with his brother since April.

Graag is an adverb used with verbs to express "to like to.." instead of using the verb houden van, which literally means to like or love.

To form questions, simply invert the subject and verb. For the second person singular form (jij), the -t ending of the conjugated verb is dropped. Dutch does not have an equivalent of the English "do" in questions, so Woon jij in Rotterdam? means Do you live in Rotterdam? although it literally is Live you in Rotterdam?

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Food and Meals

breakfast	ontbijt (n)	bread	brood (n)
lunch	middagmaal (n), lunch	pepper	peper
dinner	avondeten (n)	salt	zout (n)
glass	glas (n)	ice	ijs
fork	vork	vinegar	azijn
spoon	lepel	oil	olie
knife	mes (n)	sugar	suiker
napkin	servet (n)	butter	boter
plate	bord (n)	table	tafel
silverware	bestek (n)	dish	schotel
tea	thee	juice	sap
steak	biefstuk	water	water
cake	koek	wine	wijn
ice cream	roomijs (n)	beer	bier (n)
coffee	koffie	beverage	drank
pie	taart	milk	melk
mustard	mosterd	egg	ei (n)
rice	rijst	honey	honing
jam	jam	snack	snack, tussendoortje
soup	soep	cheese	kaas
salad	salade

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Fruits,Vegetables and Meats

fruit	vrucht		cabbage	kool
pineapple	ananas		pumpkin	pompoen
apple	appel		olive	olijf
apricot	abrikoos		radish	radijs
banana	banaan		lettuce	sla
pear	peer		tomato	tomaat
strawberry	aardbei		onion	ui
raspberry	framboos		meat	vlees (n)
cherry	kers		veal	kalfsvlees (n)
lime	limoen		lamb	lam (n)
lemon	citroen		beef	rundvlees (n)
orange	sinaasappel		ham	ham
peach	perzik		pork	varkensvlees (n)
grapes	druif		bacon	bacon
vegetables	groente		sausage	worst
cauliflower	bloemkool		poultry	pluimvee (n)
bean	boon		duck	eend
pea	erwt		goose	gans
cucumber	komkommer		chicken	kip
carrot	wortel, peen		turkey	kalkoen
potato	aardappel		fish	vis

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Word Order

Dutch word order requires Time - Manner - Place. English generally uses place before time, but Dutch cannot. Hij gaat morgen met de trein naar Londen. He's going to London tomorrow by train. (Literally: he's going tomorrow by train to London.)

The verb must always be in the second position in a Dutch sentence. This not does not mean that it must always be the second word, however. (Inversion of subject and verb to form questions is an exception.) In de winter gaat hij met de trein naar Londen. In the winter he's going to London by train. (Literally: In the winter goes he by train to London.)

Separable prefixes, past participles and infinitive always go to the end of the clause or sentence. The double infinitive construction always goes to the end of the clause or sentence as well.

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Commands

The stem with the appropriate spelling changes is most commonly used as the command form. When being polite, the u form is used (with u following the verb.) If a verb has a separable prefix, it is sent to the end of the clause. The "let's" form plus a verb is rendered in Dutch by laten we + infinitive. When the command is general and no one in particular is being addressed, the infinitive is used, especially on signs.

Kijk! Look!
Laat mij het doen! Let me do it!
Blijft u zitten. Please remain seated.
Kijk uit! Look out!
Laten we gaan. Let's go.
Niet roken. No smoking.
Trekken / Duwen. Push / Pull.

Note that zijn has an irregular imperative form: wees (and the polite form: weest u)

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Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join two sentences together. Word order is not affected by coordinating conjunctions. Examples are en (and), dus (so, thus), maar (but), of (or) and want (for, because).

Subordinating conjunctions are used to connect an independent and dependent clause together, and they do affect word order. An independent (or main) clause contains a subject and verb and can stand alone as its own sentence. A dependent (or subordinate) clause also contains a subject and verb, but is introduced with a subordinating conjunction and cannot stand alone as its own sentence.

Mijn zoon was ziek, toen hij klein was. My son was sick when he was little.
Ik weet dat jij mij leuk vindt. I know that you like me.

When a subordinating conjunction introduces a clause, the next clause must begin with a verb.

Hoewel hij jong is, is hij erg rijk. Although he is young, he is very rich.
Zodra ik klaar ben, kom ik even langs. As soon as I'm ready, I'll come over.

Subordinating Conjunctions

if/when as if except that that although to the extent that now whether because after since

als alsof behalve dat dat hoewel inzover(re) dat nu(dat) of omdat na(dat) sinds

unless while when (in past) until when before just so that as long as without as far as

tenzij terwijl toen tot(dat) wanneer voor(dat) zoals zodat zolang zonder dat zover

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Bijven and Laten

Blijven (to remain) can be used with an infinitive to express a continuous or repeated action. Blijven acts like a modal verb in the sentence; blijven is conjugated and the other verb remains in the infinitive and goes to the end of the sentence.

De kat blijft naar de muis kijken. The cat keeps looking at the mouse.
Blijft u maar zitten! Please remain seated!

Laten (to let, leave) can also behave like a modal verb when used with another verb. It corresponds to "to let" or "to have something done (by someone else)." In the perfect tense, laten also behaves like a modal because the infinitive is used instead of the past participle when it occurs with another verb.

Laten we naar huis gaan. Let's go home.
Zij laat haar kamer verven. She's having her room painted.
Hij heeft zijn auto laten wassen. He's had his car washed.

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Places

airport	luchthaven	lane (town)	steeg
bakery	bakkerij	library	bibliotheek
bank	bank	market	markt
barn	schuur	monument	gedenkteken (n)
barracks	kazerne	museum	museum
bridge	brug	palace	paleis
bookstore	boekwinkel	path	pad (n)
building	gebouw (n)	pavement	trottoir (n)
castle	slot (n)	pharmacy	apotheek
cathedral	kathedraal	police station	politiebureau (n)
cemetery	kerkhof (n)	port	haven
church	kerk	prison	gevangenis
cinema	bioscoop	restaurant	restaurant
consulate	consulaat (n)	road (highway)	landweg
corner	straathoek	school	school
drugstore	apotheek	square	plein (n)
embassy	ambassade	stadium	stadium
factory	fabriek	store	winkel
farm	boerderij	street	straat
fountain	fontein	suburb	voorstad
garage	garage	theater	theater / schouwburg
hospital	ziekenhuis (n)	tower	toren
hotel	hotel	town	stad
house	huis (n)	town hall	stadhuis (n)
hut	hut	university	universiteit
inn	herberg	village	dorp

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Transportation

bus	(auto)bus
train	trein
airplane	vliegtuig
ship	schip
boat	boot
motorcycle	motorfiets
automobile	automobiel
streetcar	tram
moped	bromfiets
bicycle	fiets
car	auto(mobiel)

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Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense in Dutch corresponds to the simple past tense in English. It is not a compound tense like the perfect tense, and some verbs have vowel changes, as in English. Generally, the simple past tense is indicated in English by adding -ed to the verb (for regular verbs, at least.) This tense is used for actions that happened in the past and that are completely done. To form the past tense, add -te (or -de) to the stem for the singular persons and -ten (or -den) to the stem for the plural persons. If the verb stem ends in p, t, k, f, s, or ch, add -te or -ten; for all other endings, add -de or -den. Verbs that have either v or z as the final consonant of the stem change them to f or s first and then add -de and -den.

	ik, jij, u, hij, zij	wij, jullie, zij
wonen - to live	woonde	woonden
geloven - to believe	geloofde	geloofden
praten - to talk	praatte	praatten
spelen - to play	speelde	speelden
trouwen - to marry	trouwde	trouwden
werken - to work	werkte	werkten
fietsen - to cycle	fietste	fietsten

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Irregular Stems in Simple Past Tense

For some verbs, the internal vowel of the stem changes in the past tense. The stem with the changed vowel then acts as the past tense for all persons of the singular, while the plural adds -en to the changed stem. In addition, there are some irregular verbs that change more than the vowel, but still add nothing for the singular and -en for the plural.

	ik, jij, u, hij, zij	wij, jullie, zij
zijn - to be	was	waren
hebben - to have	had	hadden
gaan - to go	ging	gingen
weten - to know	wist	wisten
denken - to think	dacht	dachten
blijven - to stay	bleef	bleven
drinken - to drink	dronk	dronken
eten - to eat	at	aten
breken - to break	brak	braken
bijten - to bite	beet	beten
gieten - to pour	goot	goten

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House and Furniture

alarm clock	wekker	desk	bureau	painting	schilderij (n)
armchair	leunstoel	door	deur	pillow	kussen (n)
ashtray	asbak (n)	drawer	lade	pipe (water)	pijpleiding
balcony	balkon (n)	dresser	ladenkast	radio	radio
basement	kelder	fire	vuur (n)	refrigerator	koelkast
basket	korf	flame	vlam	roof	dak (n)
bathroom	badkamer (n)	flat (apartment)	apartement	room	kamer
bed	bed (n)	floor	vloer	sheet	laken (n)
bedroom	slaapkamer	flower	bloem	shovel	schop
(door)bell	(deur)bel	furniture	meubelen (pl.)	shower	douche
blanket	deken	garden	tuin	smoke	rook
blinds	rolgordijn (n)	ground floor	benedenverdieping	sofa	(zit)bank
box	kist	hearth	haard	stairs	trap
broom	bezem	house	huis (n)	floor (of building)	verdieping
bucket	emmer	iron (flat)	strijkijzer (n)	stove	kachel
candle	kaars	kerosene	petroleum	table	tafel
carpet	tapijt (n)	key	sleutel	tap (faucet)	kraan
ceiling	plafond (n)	kitchen	keuken	television	televisie
chair	stoel	ladder	ladder	toilet (WC)	wc / toilet
chimney	schoorsteen	lamp	lamp	towel	handdoek
closet	kast	lock	slot (n)	vacuum cleaner	stofzuiger
computer	computer	mattress	matras	vase	vaas
corner	hoek	mirror	spiegel	wall (house)	muur
cupboard	kast	oven	oven	wall (room)	wand
curtain	gordijn (n)	pantry	provisiekast	window	raam (n)
cushion	kussen (n)	paper basket	prullenmand	yard	(achter)tuin

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Staan,Liggen and zitten

These verbs are all translated as "to be" in certain cases. When an object is in an upright position, staan is used. When an object is lying down, liggen is used. When an object is inside of something else, zitten is used.

De auto staat voor het huis. The car is in front of the house.
De krant ligt op de grond. The newspaper is on the floor.
De pen zit in de tas. The pen is in the bag.

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Clothing

belt	riem	pants (trousers)	broek
boot	laars	pin	speld
braces	bretels (pl.)	pipe	pijp
brush	borstel	pocket	zak
button	knoop	shirt	overhemd (n)
cigar	sigaar	shoe	schoen
cigarette	sigaret	shoelace	schoenveter
clothes	kleren	silk	zijde
coat	jas	skirt	rok
collar	boord	sleeve	mouw
comb	kam	soap	zeep
cotton	katoen (n)	sock	sok
dress	jurk	stick	stok
fashion	mode	stocking	kous
glasses	bril (sing.)	tie	stropdas
glove	handschoen	toothbrush	tandenborstel
handkerchief	zakdoek	toothpaste	tandpasta
hat	hoed	umbrella	paraplu
jeans	spijkerbroek	underwear	onderbroek
match	lucifer	waistcoat	vest (n)
needle	naald	watch	horloge (n)
overcoat	overjas	wool	wol

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Future Tense

The future tense consists of a conjugated form of zullen and an infinitive at the end of the sentence. Zullen is irregular, however, and the jij / u form "zal" is used less often than zult. The future tense can also be used to express probability. When it does, wel is added to the sentence.

ik zal	wij zullen
jij / u zult / zal	jullie zullen
hij / zij / het zal	zij zullen

De reis zal twee uur duren. The trip will last two hours.
Wij zullen het wel weten. We will probably know it.

The regular present tense can also express a future event with the use of time expressions. This is common in English too.

Morgen gaan zij naar Rotterdam. They're going to Rotterdam tomorrow.

Gaan and an infinitive at the end of the sentence can also be used to express the future. This is equivalent to the English construction "going to + verb."

Ik ga een brief schrijven. I'm going to write a letter.

Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect expresses "will have + past participle" and is as uncommon in Dutch as it is in English. Zullen is still used at the conjugated verb, but the past participle and infinitive of hebben (or zijn) are put at the end of the sentence.

Hij zal de krant gelezen hebben. He will have read the newspaper.

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Verb Meaning

Some verbs in English are expressed in Dutch as two different verbs and vice versa. The most common are:

kennen: to know a person or a place; to be acquainted with (general familiarity)
weten: to know facts (specific knowledge)

leven: to be alive, to exist, to subsist
wonen: to reside, to dwell

betekenen: to signify
bedoelen: to intend

noemen: to call, name
heten: to be called, be named

lenen aan: to lend to
lenen van: to borrow from

leren: to teach (someone something)
leren (van): to learn (from someone)

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Inflections of Adjectives

When adjectives are placed before nouns, and not after, they add the ending -e. The spelling rules that affect pluralization of nouns and verb conjugations also apply when inflecting adjectives. However, the -e is not added when the adjective occurs before a neuter singular noun without an article (warm water) or a neuter singular noun preceded by een, geen, elk (each), ieder (each), menig (many a), veel (much), welk (which) or zo'n (such a). Adjectives that end in -en, as well as the adjectives linker (left) and rechter (right), do not add -e either.

het grote huis - the large house
de lange muur - the long wall
mijn mooie tuin - my beautiful garden
snelle treinen - fast trains

een oud huis - an old house
vers brood - fresh bread
de houten trap - the wooden staircase
zijn rechter oog - his right eye

When an adjective is placed directly after iets (something), niet (nothing), veel (much), weinig (little), and wat (something), it adds the ending -s.

iets moois - something beautiful
niets nieuws - nothing new

If the noun following the adjective has been mentioned before, it may be omitted. In English, "one" is used in its place, but there is no equivalent word in Dutch. Dutch simply uses the article and adjective, with the -e inflection, if it is required.

Koop je een jurk? Ja, ik neem de blauwe. Are you buying a dress? Yes, I'll take the blue (one.)

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Adjectives

short	kort	high	hoog	light	licht
long, tall	lang	wide	wijd	dark	donker
loud	luid	fat, thick	vet, dik	terrible	vreselijk
quiet	stil	thin	dun	sweet	zoet
cute	lief, schattig	narrow	nauw	in love	verliefd
perfect	perfekt	weak	zwak	serious	serieus
sad	triest, droevig	strong	sterk	clean	proper, net
happy	blij, gelukkig	deep	diep	dirty	vuil
dear	beste	lazy	lui	shy	verlegen
famous	bekend, beroemd	cheap	goedkoop	nervous	nerveus, zenuwachtig
different	verschillend, ander	dumb	dom	comfortable	comfortabel
easy	gemakkelijk	early	vroeg	worried	bezorgd
difficult	moeilijk	near	nabij, dichtbij	right	juist
pretty	mooi	nice	mooi, aardig	wrong	verkeerd
ugly	lelijk	inexpensive	goedkoop	jealous	jaloers
small	klein	expensive	duur	drunk	dronken, zat
large	groot	crazy	gek	popular	populair
good	goed	far	ver(af)	excellent	excellent
bad	slecht	beautiful	mooi	valuable	kostbaar
new	nieuw	curious	nieuwsgierig	alone	alleen
tired	vermoeid, moe	old	oud	important	belangrijk
angry	kwaad, boos	young	jong	busy	bezig, bezet
annoying	vervelend, irritant	interesting	interessant	sick	ziek, misselijk
wonderful	wonderlijk	fantastic	fantastisch	ready	klaar

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Comparative and Superlative

Comparisons of equality use the expression even + adjective + als and it translates to "as + adjective + as." In addition, you can use net zo + adjective + als to mean "as + adjective + as," but it is more emphatic.

dit hotel is even duur als de andere - this hotel is as expensive as the others

But note: zo veel mogelijk - as soon as possible / zo vlug mogelijk - as fast as possible

When comparing two things, the comparative form of the adjective is used. It is formed in Dutch by adding -er to the adjective (or -der if the adjective ends in -r). This is used for all adjectives; there is no "more + adjective" construction as there is for some adjectives in English. Comparative adjectives add the -e ending for the inflection according to the requirements above; however, adjectives with three or more syllables do not. When using comparative adjectives, dan translates as "than."

leuk - nice
leuker - nicer
vriendelijk - friendly
vriendelijker - friendlier

When expressing the highest degree of a quality or characteristic, the superlative form of the adjective is used. Most adjectives add -st (or just -t if the adjective already ends in -s). Since the -st ending does not add a syllable to the adjective, the spelling rules do not apply. All superlatives are inflected like regular adjectives. However, if the superlative adjective is a predicate adjective (follows "to be" and does not precede a noun), then het precedes it and the -e is optional. With the superlative, van translates as "in" or "of." In contrast to English, Dutch does use the superlative to compare two or more things.

leuk - nice
leukst - nicest
het grootste huis - the biggest house
de duurste kleren - the most expensive clothes
Hij is de oudste van de twee. He is the older (literally: oldest) of the two.

For ease of pronunciation, adjectives ending in -st and -sch do not add -st to form the superlative, but use meest (most) before.

meest juist - most just
meest logisch - most logical

Don't forget the spelling changes when dealing with long and short vowels:

groot, groter, grootst - big, bigger, biggest
laat, later, laatst - late, later, latest

Some of the most common adjectives have irregular forms:

adjective	good	goed	bad	erg	much	veel	little	weinig
comparative	better	beter	worse	erger	more	meer	less	minder
superlative	best	best	worst	ergst	most	meest	least	minst

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Nature

air	lucht	grass	gras (n)	rock	rots
bank	oever	hail	hagel	sand	zand (n)
bay	baai	hay	hooi (n)	sea	zee
beach	strand (n)	heath	heide	shadow	schaduw
bridge	brug	high tide	vloed	sky	lucht
bush	struik	hill	heuvel	snow	sneeuw
cave	grot	ice	ijs (n)	spring (water)	bron
city	stad	island	eiland (n)	star	ster
cloud	wolk	lake	meer (n)	storm	storm
coast	kust	leaf	blad	stream	beek
country	land (n)	light	licht (n)	street	straat
country(side)	platteland (n)	lightning	bliksem	sun	zon
current	stroom	low tide	eb	thaw	(ont)dooi
darkness	duisternis	meadow	weide	thunder	donder
desert	woestijn	moon	maan	tree	boom
dew	dauw	mountain	berg	valley	vallei
dust	stof (n)	mud	modder	view	uitzicht (n)
earth	aarde	nature	natuur	water	water (n)
farm	boerderij	peninsula	schiereiland (n)	fresh water	zoet water (n)
field	veld (n)	plain	vlakte	salt water	zout water (n)
flower	bloem	plant	plant	waterfall	waterval
foam	schuim (n)	pond	vijver	wave	golf
fog	mist	rain	regen	weather	weer (n)
forest	bos (n)	rainbow	regenboog	wind	wind
frost	vorst	river	rivier	world	wereld

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Negative Sentences

The word niet (not) is used to negate sentences, and is generally placed at the end of the clause. However, niet precedes a preposition, an adjective that follows a noun, and the words binnen (inside), buiten (outside), beneden (downstairs), boven (upstairs) and thuis (at home).

Een is usually not preceded by niet or any phrase ending with niet (ook niet - not either, nog niet - not yet). Instead, geen, ook geen and nog geen replace the article. Geen is translated by not a, not any or no when followed by a noun in English. Geen also negates nouns that cannot be counted, such as water, bier and wijn.

Jan leest niet. Jan does not read.
Hij werkt volgende week ook niet. He is not working next week either.
Ik wil geen kopje koffie. I don't want a cup of coffee.
Zij hebben nog geen huis gevonden. They have not found a house yet.

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Object Pronouns

Subject		Objects
I	ik ('k)	me	mij (me)
you (fam.)	jij (je)	you	jou (je)
you (form.)	u	you	u
he	hij	him	hem ('m)
she	zij (ze)	her	haar (ze)
it	hij / het	it	het ('t)
we	wij (we)	us	ons
you (pl.)	jullie	you	jullie (je)
you (form.)	u	you	u
they	zij (ze)	them	hen (ze) / hun (ze)

Direct and indirect object pronouns are the same in Dutch, except for "them." Hen is used if it is a direct object, and hun is used if it is an indirect object. Generally, indirect objects are preceded by "to" or "from" in English, and direct objects are not preceded by any prepositions. Additionally, these object pronouns are used in prepositional phrases.

An alternative way of showing possession without using the possessive pronouns is to use van + object pronoun. In fact, this is the only way to show possession with the jullie form, as there is no possessive pronoun for it. This construction corresponds to "of + object" and occurs often in sentences with the verb "to be." Is deze pen van jou? Is this your pen? Die schoenen zijn niet van mij. Those shoes are not mine.

If the noun is not present in the clause, then die or dat + van + object pronoun is used. Mijn huis is klein; dat van hem is erg groot. My house is small; his is very large.

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Parts of the Body

ankle	enkel	finger	vinger	nail	nagel
arm	arm	flesh	vlees (n)	neck	hals / nek
back	rug	foot	voet	nerve	zenuw
beard	baard	forehead	voorhoofd (n)	pain	pijn
belly	buik	gum	tandvlees (n)	nose	neus
bladder	blaas	hair	haar (n)	palm	handpalm
blood	bloed (n)	hand	hand	rib	rib
body	lichaam (n)	head	hoofd (n)	shin	scheen
bone	bot / been (n)	headache	hoofdpijn	shoulder	schouder
brain	hersenen (pl.)	health	gezondheid	skeleton	skelet / geraamte
breath	adem	heart	hart (n)	skin	huid
calf	kuit	heel	hiel	skull	schedel
cheek	wang	hip	heup	sole	voetzool
chest	borst	intestines	ingewanden (pl.)	spine	ruggengraat
chin	kin	jaw	kaak	stomach	maag
cold	verkoudheid	kidney	nier	tear	traan
cough	hoest	knee	knie	thigh	dij
ear	oor (n)	leg	been (n)	throat	keel
elbow	elleboog	lip	lip	thumb	duim
eye	oog (n)	liver	lever	toe	teen
eyebrow	wenkbrauw	lung	long	tongue	tong
eyelid	ooglid (n)	moustache	snor	tooth	tand
face	gezicht (n)	mouth	mond	wound	wond
fever	koorts	muscle	spier	wrist	pols

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Relative Pronouns

Relative clauses begin with relative pronouns - words that correspond to who, whom, that and which in English. These may be omitted in English, but must be included in Dutch. The relative pronoun is put into the correct gender depending on the noun it refers to. The conjugated verb goes to the end of the sentence as well as with subordinate clauses. Die and dat are the relative pronouns in Dutch; die refers to people, singular common nouns and all plural nouns, whereas dat refers to singular neuter nouns.

Kent u de man die daar op de hoek staat? Do you know the man who is standing there on the corner?
Dat is de boek dat ik las. That is the book (that) I read.
Hier is de jurk die ik gisteren gekocht heb. Here is the dress (which) I bought yesterday.

Die is replaced by wie when the clause refers to people and is preceded by a preposition. In addition, whoever is translated as wie.

De jongen met wie ik praatte heet Piet. The boy with whom I spoke is called Peter.

No relative pronoun is used when the clause refers to things and is preceded by a preposition. In this case, waar- and the preposition are used instead. In some cases, waar- and a preposition can also replace the relative pronoun when referring to people.

Dat zijn mensen waarop je rekenen kunt. They are people upon whom you can count. (They are people you can count on.)

Wat replaces dat when the pronoun refers to the words alles (everything), iets (something), niets (nothing); to the superlative form of an adjective used as a noun; to the whole preceding clause. It is also used when there is no antecedent (no preceding noun/pronoun to refer to.)

Dat is alles wat ik heb. That is everything that I have.
Zij komt altijd te laat, wat mij ergert. She always comes late, which annoys me.

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Uses of Er

1. Personal pronouns are used after prepositions when referring to people. However, when you need to refer to a thing, a compound using er- plus the preposition (either written as one word, or separated by adverbial expression) is used. Daar (that) and hier (this) can also replace er when it is not written as one word.

De kinderen spelen vaak ermee. The children often play with it.
De kinderen spelen er vaak mee. The children often play with it.
Di kinderen spelen daar/hier vaak mee. The children often play with that/this.

2. Er is used when talking about a quantity or an amount. It is translated as "of it" or "of them," though these expressions are not always used in English.

Ik heb er genoeg gehad. I've had enough (of it.)
Hoeveel poesjes heb je? Ik heb er twee. How many kittens do you have? I have two (of them.)

3. In an unstressed position, er means there (an adverb of place). It is replaced by daar in stressed positions (such as the beginning of a sentence.)

4. Er can introduce sentences with an indefinite subject. In this case, er functions as there as a subject, as in "there is/are."

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Animals

animal	dier (n)	dog	hond	horse	paard (n)	salmon	zalm
ant	mier	donkey	ezel	insect	insekt	scale	schub
badger	das	duck	eend	kitten	katje / poesje (n)	sea gull	meeuw
bat	vleermuis	eagle	arend	lamb	lam (n)	seal	zeehond
beak	bek	eel	aal	lion	leeuw	shark	haai
bear	beer	elephant	olifant	lobster	kreeft	sheep	schaap (n)
bee	bij	feather	veer	louse	luis	shrimp	garnaal
beetle	tor	fin	vin	mackerel	makreel	snail	slak
bird	vogel	fish	vis	mole	mol	snake	slang
blackbird	merel	flea	vlo	monkey	aap	sparrow	mus
bull	stier	fly	vlieg	mosquito	muskiet	spider	spin
butterfly	vlinder	fox	vos	moth	mot	squirrel	eekhoorn
calf	kalf (n)	frog	kikker	mouse	muis	stork	ooievaar
carp	karper	fur	pels	octopus	octopus	swallow	zwaluw
cat	kat / poes	gill	kieuw	ostrich	struisvogel	tail	staart
caterpillar	rups	giraffe	giraffe	owl	uil	tiger	tijger
chicken	kip	goat	geit	ox	os	toad	pad
chimpanzee	chimpanzee	goose	gans	oyster	oester	trout	forel
claw	klauw	gorilla	gorilla	parrot	papegaai	turkey	kalkoen
cockroach	kakkerlak	grasshopper	sprinkhaan	partridge	patrijs	wasp	wesp
cod	kabeljauw	hare	haas	paw	poot	weasel	wezel
cow	koe	hen	kip / hen	pig	varken	whale	walvis
crab	krab	heron	reiger	pigeon	duif	wing	vleugel
crayfish	rivierkreeft	herring	haring	rabbit	konijn (n)	wolf	wolf
crow	kraai	hoof	hoef	rat	rat	worm	worm
deer	hert	horn	hoorn	rooster	haan	zebra	zebra

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Infinitive Constructions

Some verbs require a preposition before an infinitive in Dutch, while others do not. This is true in English as well; e.g. I want to leave vs. I can read. Verbs that do not require te before an infinitive include: modal verbs, blijven, laten, zullen, zien (to see), horen (to hear), voelen (to feel), komen, gaan, vinden (to find), leren (to teach), and helpen.

Ik kan komen. I can come.
Het zal morgen regenen. It will rain tomorrow.
Zij gaat iedere dag zwemmen. She goes swimming everyday.

The preposition used in Dutch is te, although the om... te construction can also be used. Verbs that use only te before an infinitive include: zitten, staan, liggen, lopen (to walk), beginnen, proberen (to try), durven (to dare), hoeven (to need), weten. And after these prepositions, te is used before an infinitive: zonder (without), in plaats van (instead of), and door (by.) When using om...te, all adjectives, adverbs, objects, and expressions of time, manner and place are placed between om and te. Om... te is always used when the infinitive occurs at the beginning of the sentence, and when the infinitive refers to a preceding noun.

Hij stond op de bus te wachten. He stood waiting for the bus.
Het begint te regenen. It's beginning to rain.
Ik zei het zonder te denken. I said it without thinking.
Het is erg moeilijk om te doen. It is very difficult to do.
Hoeveel kost het om hier te parkeren? How much is it to park here?
Het is een interessant programma om naar te kijken. It is an interesting program to watch.

English infinitives that follow an object are translated into clauses using conjunctions in Dutch.

Zij verwacht dat ik kom. She is expecting me to come. (Literally: She expects that I come.)

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Conditional

The conditional mood expresses doubt or uncertainty. In English, "would + infinitive" is used for the present conditional and "would have + past participle" is used for the past conditional. In Dutch, zou/zouden + infinitive is used for the present conditional, and zou/zouden + past participle + infinitive of hebben or zijn is used for the past conditional. (Zou and zouden are the singular and plural past tense forms of zullen.)

Ik zou graag thuis blijven. I would like to stay home.
Als ik jou was, zou ik dat huis niet kopen. If I were you, I would not buy that house.
Ik zou graag thuis gebleven zijn. I would have liked to stay home.

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Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense corresponds to the perfect tense, but the action occurred in the past before another action occurred in the past. In English, it translates to "had" instead of "have" before the past participle. To form this tense, simply use the simple past of hebben or zijn (whichever auxiliary the verb used in the present perfect tense) and the past participle.

Zij had de boeken niet gevonden. She had not found the books.
Jullie hadden in Paris gestudeerd. You had studied in Paris.

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Diminutives

Diminutives are forms of a word that show smallness or endearment and are much more common in Dutch (especially spoken Dutch) than in English. All diminutives in Dutch are formed by adding -je to the noun, and all are neuter nouns and form the plural by adding -s.

kindje little child
neusje little nose
schaapje little sheep

Nouns endings in a vowel, y, w or j; nouns that contain a long vowel or diphthong followed by r, l, or n; and nouns ending in unstressed -er, -el, and -en add -tje to form the diminutive.

eitje little egg
beentje little leg
dekentje little blanket

Nouns containing a short vowel followed by r, l, n, m, or ng add -etje.

balletje little ball
stemmetje little voice

Nouns ending in unstressed -ing drop the final -g and add -kje.

verrassinkje little surprise

Nouns ending in -m add -pje (unless m is preceded by short stressed vowel.)

bezempje little broom

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