Each example below has three parts: the original text, a literal gloss describing how every word works, and a natural translation. The glosses use a few shorthand labels so they stay short. Don't worry about memorising them — this is a reference you can come back to. Person and number · 1sg / 2sg / 3sg — first / second / third person singular (I, you, he/she/it) · 1pl / 2pl / 3pl — first / second / third person plural (we, you-all, they) Gender and case · m / f / n — masculine / feminine / neuter · sg / pl — singular / plural · m.sg — combined: masculine singular (and similarly f.pl, n.sg, etc.) · NOM / ACC / GEN / DAT / INS / LOC — grammatical cases (nominative/accusative/genitive/dative/instrumental/locative) — which role the word plays in the sentence Tense and aspect · PRES — present · PRET — preterite (a finished past event) · IMPF — imperfect (an ongoing or habitual past situation) · FUT — future · PERF — perfect (an action completed with present relevance) · PROG — progressive (action in progress, e.g. am eating) · COND — conditional (would…) Mood · IND — indicative (regular statement) · SUBJ — subjunctive (uncertainty, wishes, doubts) · IMP — imperative (commands) · INF — infinitive (dictionary form: to go, to eat) Other · REFL — reflexive (action on oneself: myself, yourself) · PERS — personal a (Spanish only — marks a human direct object) · HON — honorific (extra-polite form, common in Japanese/Korean) · TOP / SUB / OBJ — topic / subject / object markers (Japanese, Korean) · CL — classifier (Chinese, Japanese, Korean — a counter word for nouns) · NEG — negation
Dutch is a V2 language: in main clauses the finite verb must occupy the second position, no matter what comes first. If the subject is first, normal order applies; if a time expression, object, or adverb is fronted, the subject moves after the verb (inversion). In subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like 'omdat' (because), 'dat' (that), 'als' (if/when), the finite verb goes to the end (SOV). Non-finite verbs (infinitives, participles) cluster at the end in both main and subordinate clauses.
Dutch nouns are either common gender (taking 'de') or neuter (taking 'het'). The indefinite article 'een' is the same for both. About two thirds of nouns are 'de' words, but you must memorise the gender with each noun. All plurals take 'de' regardless of original gender. Diminutives (ending in -je) are always 'het'. There are tendencies (e.g. people are usually 'de'; words ending in -isme, -ment are 'het'), but exceptions abound, so learn each noun with its article.
Subject pronouns: ik, jij/je, u (formal), hij, zij/ze, het, wij/we, jullie, zij/ze. Object pronouns: mij/me, jou/je, u, hem, haar, het, ons, jullie, hen/hun (hen for direct/after preposition; hun for indirect, though spoken Dutch increasingly uses 'hun' or 'ze' for both). Possessives: mijn, jouw/je, uw, zijn, haar, ons/onze (ons before 'het' nouns and singular neuter; onze elsewhere), jullie, hun. Stressed and unstressed forms (jij/je, mij/me) differ; the short forms are far more common in speech.
Regular verbs: take the infinitive (e.g. 'werken' to work), remove -en to get the stem ('werk'). Present endings: ik + stem; jij/hij/zij/het + stem+t; wij/jullie/zij + stem+en (= infinitive). In inversion (verb before jij) the -t is dropped: 'werk jij?'. Final consonants are devoiced ('reizen' -> stem 'reis'). Key irregulars: zijn (to be) — ik ben, jij bent, hij is, wij/jullie/zij zijn. hebben (to have) — ik heb, jij hebt, hij heeft, wij hebben. gaan (to go) — ik ga, jij gaat, wij gaan. kunnen (can) — ik kan, jij kan/kunt, hij kan, wij kunnen.
Dutch has only one present tense; it covers English simple ('I work') and continuous ('I am working'). For an explicit progressive meaning, use 'aan het + infinitive' with 'zijn': 'Ik ben aan het werken'. The present is also used for the near future when context is clear ('Morgen ga ik naar Amsterdam' — Tomorrow I am going to Amsterdam). With 'al' + a time expression it covers English present perfect of duration: 'Ik woon hier al drie jaar' (I have lived here for three years).
The perfectum (present perfect) is the everyday spoken past: auxiliary 'hebben' or 'zijn' + past participle at the end. Most verbs take 'hebben'; verbs of motion or change of state take 'zijn' (gaan, komen, worden, blijven, zijn itself). Regular participle: ge- + stem + -t/-d (ge-werk-t). Use the t-kofschip rule: -t if stem ends in t,k,f,s,ch,p; else -d. The imperfectum (simple past) is used for descriptions, habitual actions, and narration: regular endings -te(n)/-de(n) on the stem (werkte, werkten; leefde, leefden), following the same t-kofschip rule.
Dutch has no inflected future tense. The most common ways to talk about the future are: (1) the present tense with a time expression — 'Morgen werk ik' (Tomorrow I work); (2) 'gaan + infinitive' for planned or imminent actions, similar to English 'going to' — 'Ik ga koken' (I'm going to cook); (3) 'zullen + infinitive' for predictions, promises, suggestions, and a more formal future — 'Het zal morgen regenen' (It will rain tomorrow). 'Zullen' conjugates: ik zal, jij zult/zal, hij zal, wij/jullie/zij zullen.
'Geen' negates an indefinite or unspecified noun (one that would otherwise take 'een' or no article, including mass nouns): 'Ik heb geen auto' (I don't have a car), 'Ik drink geen koffie' (I don't drink coffee). 'Niet' negates everything else: verbs, adjectives, adverbs, definite noun phrases, and the whole sentence. 'Niet' usually goes at the end of the clause, but before adjectives, prepositional phrases, place/manner adverbs, and infinitives/participles. Time adverbs come before 'niet'.
Yes/no questions are formed by inversion: the finite verb moves to the front, subject follows. Note that when 'jij' follows the verb, the -t ending is dropped ('jij werkt' but 'werk jij?'). Wh-questions begin with a question word, followed by the verb, then the subject: wie (who), wat (what), waar (where), wanneer (when), waarom (why), hoe (how), welk(e) (which). Prepositions with 'wat' become 'waar' + preposition: 'waarover' (about what), 'waarmee' (with what).
Most Dutch nouns form their plural with -en: boek -> boeken, hond -> honden. Spelling adjustments preserve vowel length: short vowel + single consonant doubles the consonant (man -> mannen); long vowel written double in a closed syllable becomes single in the open plural syllable (raam -> ramen); -f/-s often become -v/-z before -en (huis -> huizen, brief -> brieven). The -s plural is used after unstressed -el, -em, -en, -er, -je (tafel -> tafels, meisje -> meisjes), and with many loanwords (auto's, foto's; apostrophe keeps the vowel long). A few neuter nouns take -eren (kind -> kinderen).
When an adjective stands before a noun, it takes -e in almost every case: 'de grote man', 'het grote huis', 'de grote huizen', 'mooie boeken'. The only exception: a singular neuter ('het') noun with an indefinite or no determiner drops the -e — 'een groot huis', 'groot huis', 'geen groot huis'. With definite articles, demonstratives, and possessives, the -e is always present, even with neuter singular: 'het grote huis', 'mijn grote huis'. Predicative adjectives (after 'zijn', 'worden', 'blijven') never inflect: 'Het huis is groot'.
Diminutives are extremely common in Dutch and are formed by adding -je (or a variant -tje, -etje, -pje, -kje depending on the preceding sound) to the noun. They make things small or affectionate, but very often have an idiomatic or softening meaning rather than literal smallness. All diminutives are neuter ('het') and form their plural with -s. Some words exist mainly in their diminutive form (meisje 'girl', beetje 'a bit').
Many Dutch verbs consist of a prefix (often a preposition or adverb: op, mee, uit, aan, af, in, terug) plus a base verb. In a main clause the prefix separates from the verb and goes to the end of the clause: 'Ik sta om zeven uur op' (I get up at seven). In subordinate clauses, infinitives, and past participles the verb stays together: 'omdat ik om zeven uur opsta'; 'opstaan' (infinitive); 'opgestaan' (participle — the 'ge-' goes between prefix and stem). Stress falls on the prefix, which distinguishes separable from inseparable compounds.